Four Generations of Innovative Farming-The Emmanuels

January 23, 2025
From Left to Right: Tom, Wendell, Jordan, Tate

Meet the Emmanuels from North Bend, Nebraska. Wendell Emmanuel has been farming his entire life, and has 69 years of experience. His son Tom, who has been farming for 41 years, continues the legacy. Tom’s sons, Tate and Jordan, are also full-time farmers—Tate has been farming for 9 years since college, while Jordan has been at it for 13 years.   

This conversation has been modified. Our goal is to provide easier reading while keeping the conversation and thoughts of the original discussion. This interview was conducted by our Lead Agronomist, Tim Wolf.

What is conservation and sustainability mean to you?  

Wendell: 
Taking care of the land the best way you can. Planting cover crops to prevent soil erosion and giving the fields something to work through during the winter. It’s about ensuring the land remains productive for the future.  

Tate: 
The first thing that comes to mind when I think of conservation and sustainability is soil health—running a balanced fertility program and keeping those soil microbes thriving. Healthy soil is the foundation of everything we do.  

Jordan: 
Building on what Tate said, it’s about understanding the ratios between nutrients and maintaining balance. Instead of just doing a flat-rate fertilizer spread based on assumptions, we’re learning to fine-tune nutrient applications to achieve optimal soil fertility and yields.  

Like Grandpa mentioned, it’s also about adapting to the times. With new technology and evolving practices—like cover crops and nutrient management—it’s important to implement changes gradually rather than sticking to the way things have always been done. We’re not out there plowing with a board plow anymore.  

Tom: 
Over the years, one of the biggest changes I’ve seen is moving from applying all the anhydrous or nitrogen up front to feeding the crop in stages throughout its growth. That shift has made a big difference.  

Now, instead of pulling just a few core samples from an 80-acre field, we’re using grid sampling—down to two-acre or even one-acre grids—and incorporating tissue sampling. It’s all about getting more out of less and maximizing what the land can produce while being efficient.  

We have four generations here. When you first started farming with your fathers, what was a practice you noticed that was conservation-related or something everyone else wasn’t doing?  

Wendell: 
Back in the day, the only nutrient we had was manure, and it was—and still is—good. About 35 to 40 years ago, I started applying some liquid nitrogen with the cultivator. I spread it out a bit ahead of time and then fed the crops later on. In the past 15 years, I’ve started using cover crops on the few acres I have, which has been quite an evolution.  

One of the biggest changes has been reducing the number of trips over the ground. Back then, we plowed, harrowed, disced, and cultivated three times. It wore out the ground and lost a lot of potential. Moving away from those practices has been a significant step forward.  

Tom: 
Way back when, those terraces—man, I used to cuss them out. The bigger the equipment got, the less it matched up with those terraces. I’d think, “Why don’t we just take these out?” But then you’d get that six-inch rainstorm, and you’d realize why they were there. Over the years, we’ve revamped them with drop tubes and other improvements, and they’ve been a big deal, especially on the hills.  

No-till has also been a major change.  

Wendell: 
Terraces were already pretty common when I was a kid.  

Tom: 
Did you help put them in, plowing on them?  

Wendell: 
Yeah, we’d plow with a little flinger—like an auger—to throw the soil up and make the terraces. I didn’t love it, though. When we walked fields for cockleburs, those short terrace rows could really throw you off.  

Jordan: 
Speaking of hard times, we gave Grandpa a hard time about putting in cover crops before there were carbon or NRCS programs. He was doing it because he knew it was good for the soil and would get microbial activity going all year. In a way, he was ahead of his time. Now, with programs and incentives, we’ve been able to expand cover crops across more acres. But Grandpa was doing it simply because it was the right thing to do.  

Tate: 
Adding to that, I feel like you (Wendell) adopted no-till pretty early. I vaguely remember riding with you disking when I was young, but you were one of the few who were no-tilling for a while. Over time, we’ve moved to less and less tillage on the acres we farm.  

Wendell: 
The only thing we could no-till back then was corn and beans because of the residue. We didn’t have planters that could handle corn stalks. Way back when, we bought a tank with a planter all in one. It was one of the first in the area.  

You could grow good crops with it, but the residue caused problems. We didn’t have cultivators that could handle it—they were more like sweeps—and there weren’t chemicals available to manage it. Eventually, we had to give it up. It was a good idea but ended up being a bad one at the time. Nowadays, with the right planters and tools, it’s a completely different story.  

What are some things you want to apply in the future?  

Wendell: 
How can things get any better?  

Tate: 
See-and-spray technology , but applied nutritionally—seeing a plant and determining its individual nutritional needs. That technology exists to some extent now, but where I see it going in the future is using microbes or biologicals to feed each plant exactly what it needs, on the fly. Are we there yet? No. But down the road, that could be a major breakthrough for farmers, offering the ability to feed plants one by one based on their unique requirements.  

Wendell: 
That’s pretty amazing. If technology can spot and spray, I don’t know how it could work nutritionally, but it would be incredible if it did.  

Jordan: 
I think we’re just scratching the surface of the carbon market and the value farmers can bring. If society wants to focus on sustainability or cleaning up the air, farmers are already pulling more carbon out of the atmosphere at peak growing season than the rainforest. We’re part of the solution, even though we didn’t create the problem. This market is going to grow, and I hope we’re at the table for those discussions with decision-makers as it develops.  

Tom: 
On that note, I hope biofuels continue to expand—more ethanol, soybean-based aviation fuel, and similar advancements. If we can tap into those markets, it would be a game changer. As farmers, we’re always looking to become more efficient and produce more bushels. The big question is: where are all those bushels going to go? Expanding biofuel markets could be a huge opportunity.  

What haven’t we talked about that you think we need to discuss?  

Jordan: 
Technology and conservation go hand in hand. With tools like moisture probes in the soil, we’re conserving resources by avoiding overwatering. On some of our farms, we use drip tape, which has massively increased our efficiency. It eliminates evaporation that you’d get with center pivots, so very little water is wasted.  

We also don’t need wells as big on those farms. Plus, with drip tape, we can spoon-feed nutrients throughout the growing season. Instead of applying fertilizer in the off-season, we give the plants exactly what they need, exactly when they need it—not just nitrogen, but other essential nutrients as well.  

Tate: 
The first thing that comes to mind when we talk about conservation and sustainability is return on investment. It’s great for the soil, but it’s also about the dollars we’re saving and gaining. By building balanced soil and letting it work for us, we’re not only improving the land but also putting money back in our pockets. Once you find a system that works for your operation, you can see those benefits. Sure, there are bumps in the road, but if you stick with it, most farms can find conservation practices that fit their operation and pay off.  

Jordan: 
The markets are more volatile than ever. To stay ahead, we’re running trials to figure out what we can control—like spoon-feeding nutrients—to avoid the impact of high fertilizer prices. These practices help protect our bottom line, and that’s something we’re focused on improving.  

Tom: 
Drip tape is a game changer. We’ve been using it for seven years now, and it’s amazing how efficient it is. Water has always been important, but it’s going to become an even bigger issue in the future. With drip tape, we’ve eliminated a bunch of power units, submersible pumps, and cut our horsepower needs in half for the same acres. It’s about as efficient as it gets.  

Wendell: 
Water is going to be the big fight down the road. I just read an article about what percentage of the earth is too dry to grow crops. It’s alarming.  

Tate: 
All life on earth depends on water, and it’s only going to become a more precious resource as time goes on.  

Tom: 
It’s a precious commodity.  

Is there anything you’ve tried conservation or sustainability-wise that didn’t initially work but that you’ve adjusted or adapted to make sense?  

Tate: 
I could write a book on this. As we’ve moved more into no-till, residue has been a big challenge. Wendell, you’ve baled your stalks over the years for your livestock—that’s one way to manage residue if you don’t take too much off. But it’s always a gamble because removing residue can leave your soil exposed.  

For us, poor stands were a major issue when we started no-till. We addressed it by adding more technology to the planter, which has worked great, and by incorporating more strip-till. That’s helped eliminate the problem and made our fertilizer applications more efficient.  

We’ve also started using biologicals to digest the residue on the ground, turning it back into nutrients and putting those fertilizer dollars back in our pocket.  

Another learning curve for me was with drip tape irrigation. During the first drought year, I didn’t water enough. I didn’t stay ahead of the drought and thought we’d be fine. I got behind, and it cost us some yield. Now, I know to build up a cushion in the soil profile early. You can always back off later if needed, but it’s better to be proactive.  

Jordan: 
It wasn’t necessarily a fail, but when we started doing more tissue sampling, it was tough to see the expense. Writing that check every couple of weeks—whether for hiring someone to take the samples or doing it ourselves—wasn’t fun.  

But tissue sampling has been valuable. It’s helped us figure out what nutrients we’re deficient in at different growth stages. Knowing when the crop needs more phosphorus or potassium has allowed us to get ahead of the curve instead of playing catch-up. If you’re behind, you’ve already lost yield. We’re still learning and trying to improve, but timing is everything—and sometimes the weather doesn’t cooperate.  

Tom: 
Cover crops are another example. When the boys came back from college, Jordan had some pasture, so we got back into livestock. Cover crops have been great for grazing, but wet conditions have caused issues. After rain events, you deal with hoof prints and compaction, which can create challenges for planting.  

The last couple of years, planting into cover crops hasn’t always resulted in the best stand. It’s hurt us a little. Tate would probably disagree.  

Tate: 
I think it’s great when you have a low stand of beans.  

Tom: 
We’ve talked about possibly strip-tilling in the spring and then planting into that strip to break up compaction and improve the seedbed. Compaction from livestock grazing isn’t supposed to happen, but it’s not so much compaction as it is an uneven seedbed with little holes.  

Jordan: 
A couple of years ago, white mold was a major issue. Going forward, we’re planning to create more detailed maps of where we know white mold pressure is high. Using variable rate seeding, we’ll adjust the planter to plant 30-inch beans in those problem areas while sticking with 15-inch rows elsewhere for better weed control.  

I’m going to switch gears a little bit. You’ve already started talking about irrigation, but I want to step back to the beginning and talk about when you first started farming. Did you have irrigation? What did it look like, and as you moved through the generations on your farm, how did irrigation evolve? Let’s start with what irrigation looked like when you started farming.  

Wendell 
I loved it. We lived at the bottom, and they had a V plow to channel water down to the fields. They used siphon tubes to move the water out, and then later on, a few pivots were introduced. Gosh, I liked those pivots. When we were baling straw and driving down the road on an open tractor with bales behind us, getting into that water to cool off was amazing. Back then, irrigation was only on the bottom ground, the level ground—it was the only place you could do it. It was a big change.  

Tom 
Before pivots, we used tow lines. Oh my, those were a chore. You’d have to pick them up, move them a quarter mile, and relay them. It was like milking cows every twelve hours—hooking on and pulling them back and forth. I also used a lot of gravity irrigation with pipes. On smaller fields where pivots wouldn’t work well, we switched to drip tape. It worked really well on those acres. Irrigation has come a long way.  

Jordan 
Since I came back and started farming, the advancements in fertilizing through irrigation systems have really taken off. Being able to irrigate and fertilize during the growing season is a much bigger deal now than it was twelve years ago.  

Tate 
Knowing when to irrigate has been another game-changer. Growing up with flood irrigation, we were always at the mercy of making sure the water was on and running because you didn’t want to fall behind. As we’ve evolved to pivots and drip tape, moisture probes have become an invaluable tool. Even with pivots and tape, it’s easy to over-irrigate, and that wastes money. The technology now helps us make better decisions on how much and when to irrigate, using weather forecasts to our advantage. If we can wait for a chance of rain, we can save that irrigation pass. This technology has been a major benefit.  

You guys touched on this a bit, but I want to revisit it. You started with dryland farming and then moved to flood irrigation. What problem were you trying to solve with each of those steps? Wendell, you didn’t irrigate, and Tom, you used flood irrigation. What challenge were you trying to address with that?  

Then, when you moved from flood irrigation to tow lines, then to pivots, and finally to drip, what problems were you trying to solve with each transition? What were the reasons behind evolving from no irrigation to flood irrigation, to tow lines, to pivots, and then to drip? That’s five steps—what drove those changes?  

Wendell 
I’m not really qualified to answer that because I never had irrigation and still don’t, so I can’t speak to the changes.  

Tom 
When I started farming, it was mostly using eight-inch to ten-inch pipes for gravity irrigation. It was an inefficient method—some rows would get watered properly, but others would only be halfway done. It was overwatering in some places, while other areas didn’t get enough. The biggest issue with gravity irrigation was the waste of water. Over the years, I’ve focused on improving efficiency, and uniformity in irrigation became the big goal.  

Jordan 
As I mentioned earlier, time management was a big reason we moved away from gravity irrigation. With flood irrigation, you had to constantly keep an eye on things. With pivots, you could walk away and they would take care of themselves. Plus, with pivots, you don’t need to make extra passes for fertilizer. You can apply fertilizer during the growing season when the crop actually needs it, which is a big improvement.  

Tate 
Incorporating sustainability and soil health into our irrigation practices has been key. With flood irrigation, you’re working the soil up to four times a year just to irrigate. Moving to pivots allowed us to avoid some of that tilling. When you switch from pivots to drip tape, there’s a huge difference in efficiency. A pivot puts on about an inch of water each time, but with drip tape, you can apply as little as a quarter-inch to thirty-hundredths of an inch a day during peak season. And if you catch a rain event, you don’t need to get ahead of the irrigation as much, which is a big advantage.  

The ability to apply fertilizer at the root zone is another major benefit of drip systems. You can “spoon feed” the plants with fertilizer in real time, something that’s much harder to do with flood or pivot systems. With drip, you can monitor how much water and fertilizer are being applied, and if there are any issues, the system alerts you on your phone. This gives you peace of mind, knowing that your system is working correctly and your dollars are being spent efficiently.  

We’ve talked about the past and the present. Looking ahead to the future, what excites you most about the drip acres you currently have? Do you think you’ll continue to expand into more drip irrigation? I’m not trying to pressure you to say yes, but what excites you about the potential for further transformation toward drip, and what does it bring that makes you want to explore it more?  

Tate 
Grandpa?  

Wendell 
Efficiency, I guess, is number one. And profitability, once you’ve covered the costs.  

Jordan 
Probably not for you (Tom) but before Tate and I finish farming, we’ll likely be allocated a certain number of gallons per acre on all of our farms. We’re not there yet in our area, but I think we’ll get there. When that happens, it will be all about making every inch of water count and applying it at the right time. At that point, that’s where drip irrigation could really be beneficial. It’s way more efficient than even center pivots, so expanding drip acres will probably be on the table.  

Tate 
As time goes on, I think we’ll also be incentivized to use less fertilizer. With drip, you can “spoon feed” nutrients to the crop at the right times, which helps reduce fertilizer use while still improving efficiency. Anytime we’re considering expanding irrigation, drip tape will be part of the conversation. We’ll be asking if it fits the land and if it’s profitable. For our dryland fields, if we can get drip tape on them, that would be ideal. Especially if there’s a water issue, drip tape is a great option. It fits well on oddly shaped fields and offers sustainability and efficiency.  

We touched on this in previous videos, but I want to revisit the question: How has NutraDrip as a company supported your farming operations?  

Jordan 
When we first started using drip tape, we were just trying to wrap our heads around how it worked and get comfortable with the idea of using it as our main irrigation source. What I didn’t realize at the time was how much NutraDrip would help us beyond just the drip tape. They’ve really gone above and beyond. Their guidance has crossed over into other areas of our operation, like fertigation through pivots or Y-dropping. We’re no longer afraid to try “spoon feeding” the crop with different products during the growing season, especially when tissue and soil samples suggest we should. NutraDrip has been really open to us asking questions about applying fertigation through the Y-drop system, and that openness has helped us across our entire operation.  

Jordan 
Whether Grandpa knows it or not, we’ve applied some of the ideas we’ve learned from drip tape when we’re Y-dropping on his farm and we’re seeing how it plays out.  

As you think about next year and the future, how does NutraDrip fit into your plans? What can we do to better assist you in your operation?  

Jordan 
One thing that’s really important to us is continuing to have strong communication with NutraDrip. You guys are really good about answering questions, whether it’s about running a certain product through the drip tape or deciding if it’s better to Y-drop it. You help us figure out what nutrients we should use, what they can or can’t mix with, and how to adjust for things like calcium during the growing season. We’re always trying new things and experimenting with ideas, and when you don’t have an immediate answer, you’ll make calls to find a solution. It’s that kind of problem-solving and evolving with us that’s really valuable. As we continue to work with Y-drop bars, drip tape, and pivots, we’ll need to figure out new ways to handle nutrient deficiencies, and learning as we go is key.  

Tate 
I’d add to the communication side that having access to NutraDrip’s network of growers is really helpful. There are a lot of people out there trying new things, just like we are. If we come up with an idea, NutraDrip can share if it’s something others have already tried and what the results were. If it’s something that could work for us, you give us insights on how to tweak it for our farm, based on real experiences. Having that kind of feedback has been really useful, and I think it’ll continue to be a great tool moving forward.  

Is there anything we haven’t covered that you think is important to share? Things you’ve learned, observed, or are curious about?  

Jordan 
That sounds like a grandpa question!  

Wendell 
Don’t put it all on me!  

One of the reasons we are here today is the conversation I had with you and your wife at Husker Harvest Days – discussing the culture of conservation and willingness to try new things.  

So, I guess I’m curious—have we missed talking about anything that you think is important?  

Jordan: Whether we’ve acknowledged it or not, I think our fearlessness in trying new things comes from Grandpa. To be honest, he wasn’t afraid to do what he thought was right for the soil, even if it cost him money.  

That mindset carried over to Dad—he wasn’t afraid to try new things either. You don’t have to try something on every acre, but you should give it a shot, see if it works, learn from it, and then expand if it’s worth expanding.  

Tate: I’d agree. When I look at Grandpa and Grandma’s place, there’s so much history there.  

I think about the Harvestore— that was something new at the time, right? You implemented it as it was just coming out. Then there are the ideas you’ve had over the years with cattle and hogs—you were always willing to try something, whether you read about it somewhere or thought of it yourself.  

Even in your shop, the things you think to build and weld are unbelievable. Whether it’s something simple to help around the house or something for the farm, that fearlessness and willingness to try something—big or small—really stands out.  

I’d say it started with Grandpa. Dad carried that same mindset throughout his farming career, trying different practices or ideas to improve or make money.  

Maybe it even started with Great Grandpa—I don’t know. I never met him, but maybe he had that same way of thinking.  

Wendell: To a certain extent, yeah.  

Jordan: Well, it’s a culture where there’s always something to gain from learning—something new from every encounter. You’re never too old to stop learning, right?  

Wendell: You got it there.  

Tom, when I first arrived here, we were standing outside, talking about how we’re close in age, and you mentioned starting farming in the 1980s. I’d love for you to share what we discussed—what it was like to start farming during that time, and what the key factors were in surviving and growing through those years, as well as building something to pass on to the next generation.  

Tom: Yeah, the ’80s were tough times—there are always challenging periods, but that one really stands out. I remember my first loan coming out of college had a 21% interest rate. That’s crazy. I still have that note for 21% because, without collateral, you were considered a higher risk. But, you just keep going.  

I guess it’s in your blood—you hope for the best and just keep pushing forward. I’m sure my dad went through similar ups and downs. That’s the nature of any business—you survive the tough times and learn from them.  

Wendell: Yeah, that was a tough time. With interest rates the way they were, milking cows felt like a struggle.  

The big outing for us was going to church on Sundays. You just couldn’t afford to do much else. Sporting events, well, some of them, yeah. That was pretty much it. It was very trying.  

It seemed like the more production you had, the worse off you were, because it just didn’t pan out. You were losing money. Even if you expanded, you were still losing money.  

I just hope we never have to go through that again. Now, when interest rates go up to 8% or whatever, the younger guys complain, thinking, ‘How are we going to manage?’ But really, they’ve got nothing to complain about compared to what we went through.  

I just hope it never gets that bad again.  

Tate: Was raising eight kids a trying time?  

Wendell: Oh, no, that was a lot of fun.  

Wendell, you mentioned the tough times. Sometimes, the solution to a difficult period wasn’t necessarily expansion—it was about efficiency or something else. What are some things that come to mind when you think about those challenges? What helped you get through them and make it to better times, where you could try something new.  

Wendell: I guess it was just the resolve to push through it. You had to keep moving forward because that was all you could do. There wasn’t really a solution, just hoping you could ride it out and maybe things would get better with time. That was about it.  

The hardest part for us, though, was that if you owned enough land, you might have been able to ride out the storm. But at that time, we were expanding. We bought more land when money was a little easier to come by before things turned tough. It was the debt from that expansion that almost took us down. 

Tom: It’s kind of like now with the Land prices and everything. It’s pretty crazy.  

Tate: You make the most of what you’ve got and I’d say that’s where drip tape fits into the picture—squeezing everything you can out of what you have.  

Outgrowing a problem isn’t necessarily always the solution. It’s the efficiency.   

Thank you again for everything you’ve done for me and for NutraDrip. It’s added a lot of value to us, and I truly appreciate you taking the time to do this—it’s very heartwarming for me. I’ve been through several generations, and my wife comes from a multi-generation farming family as well. Her dad, who’s 86, is still active. He lives on the main farm with the feedlot. While he’s not doing chores every day, he’s still very involved, and the biggest value he brings is his experience.  

A lot of times, younger generations, including us, get emotional about things and just want to power through. But the experience of previous generations is invaluable—they remind us to step back, think things through, and approach problems a little differently. And almost every time, the result is a better version.  

Tate: I often think about something you’ve (Wendell) said: ‘Everything works out for a reason, even if it doesn’t make sense at the time.’ You’ve mentioned it a few times, and it’s always proven to be true. 

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