Laux Seed Farm has been actively farming in the Pumpkin Creek area of the Nebraska panhandle since 1969.
In addition to their certified grass seed operation founded by Bill Laux and his wife Jackie, the Laux farm is also involved in custom feeding and diversified farming. Bill and Jackie’s son, Kirk Laux, oversees the day-to-day operations and their three full-time employees while brothers Kent and Tim Laux are also partners in the business.
With more than 25 years experience in the custom grass seed business, several acres of the Laux farm are dedicated to producing certified custom grass seed which is specialized for pasture, CRP and other uses.
No-Till Farming Works for Laux Seed Farm Diversified farming techniques are used to raise wheat, corn, dry edible beans and dairy quality alfalfa. Because water conservation is crucial in the Pumpkin Creek area, Kirk Laux has transitioned his 1,200 acres of farmland to no-till farming.
No-till farming is also known as zero tillage. This is a way of growing crops from year to year without disturbing the soil through tillage. Tilling is used to remove weeds, mix in fertilizer, shape the soil into rows for crop plants and prepare the surface for seeding. Doing this can lead to soil compaction, loss of organic matter and soil erosion where topsoil is blown or washed away. In no-till farming the soil is left intact and crop residue is left on the field.
According to Kirk, his NMC Ag sales representa-tive Chauncey Walker from the Scottsbluff location has been a big help through the whole process of switching to no-till. “It’s quite a change in culture and mind-set to go from turning everything over and working the soil to simply spraying for weeds, planting and harvesting,” Kirk said.
This new process not only conserves the moisture in the topsoil, but it also saves the farm on fuel ex-penses and wear and tear on their equipment. The Laux farm is one of the first in the Pumpkin Creek area to make the switch to no-till, but Kirk feels more farms in the area will soon be making
the change.
Custom Feeding
The Lauxes also operate a commercial cattle feed yard. The Laux feed yard specializes in feeding freshly weaned calves which are shipped from the upper northwest region of the country including Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Utah and Washington. Their state-of-the-art facility holds around 3,500 head and a consulting nutritionist and veterinarian are on staff to maintain the best care possible. Their cow/calf operation produces spring and fall calves and focuses on replacement heifer development.
NMC Provides Equipment & Service
To keep up with the daily demands of seed production, custom feeding and farming – the farm turns to NMC for their equipment and service needs. During their conversion to no-till farming, several pieces of unnecessary equip-ment were sold and four new Challenger tractors were leased from NMC. After unfavorable experiences with other equipment brands, the Laux Seed Farm has enjoyed a good buying experience and service they can count on with NMC.
Customer Support Agreements were purchased for the new equipment and they work well for the farm. Another convenience they enjoy is the on-site service provided by the NMC mobile service trucks. The Laux farm doesn’t keep a mechanic on staff – aside from minor repairs all service is done by NMC.
“Most other companies prefer that you load up the equipment and bring it to them. That’s not the case with NMC – they’d rather come out and service the equipment here,” Kirk said. There are many challenges to running a successful custom feeding, seed and farming operation. Worrying about the reliability of your equipment shouldn’t be one of them.
Published in The Connection Volume 2 Issue 2
