Mission
To be leaders of change in our community by operating as sustainable farmers to protect our resources for the next generation. We will uphold our mission by honesty, integrity, and faith to be desirable partners to work with others.
Brian and Sandy Ryberg started Ryberg Farms Inc. in 1997 after farming in partnership with Brian’s parents, Howard and Marilyn Ryberg, for 10 years. Our farm corporation has grown steadily from its beginning to our present day operation. We currently farm in 4 counties in south central Minnesota. These counties include Sibley, Renville, McLeod, and Meeker.
We have transitioned our farm to strip tillage about 5 years ago and are excited about the changes we have made. Corn, soybeans, and sugarbeets are raised on 22″ rows. We continue to desire to expand our operation to maximize our efficient line of equipment. An ETS Soil Warrior XS 24 row-22″ strip till bar is used. It combines two fertilizer tanks with variable rate capability. All strips are done in the fall, applying only P, K and micronutrients if needed. We plant directly into these strips in the spring without any other tillage pass. This system has saved fuel, labor, equipment, and fertility needs which all help to decrease our input costs. No yield decrease has been seen, but actually believe we will see an increase going forward as our soils change and we use fertility more effeciently. Our soils have already shown more water infiltration and better soil structure to carry heavy equipment in wet working conditions the past two falls.
Cover crops have also fit in well with our minimum tillage. We interseed a blend of cover crops into our corn while we sidedress nitrogen. This is done at about V-6 stage of corn or about 8″ tall. This cover crop emerges and goes into a summer dormacy. Then as corn leaves begin to dry down and the canopy opens up, the cover crop blend continues to grow and flourish. By harvest, we have a nice green growth between the stalks that we will allow to over winter and plant soybeans directly into the following spring. We also seed cereal rye directly after sugarbeet harvest to establish a cover crop to protect from wind erosion during an open winter without snow cover. The actively growing fibrous root systems and root channels left after decomposition have allowed for a mellow, well drained seed bed. It has also proved to suppress weeds and keep soils cooler to maximize root growth. Our goal is to have something growing as long as possible in our soils.
We are blessed with several long time employees that are vital to our success. Jason (Scoob) Anderson is our Operations manager and Chris Leske is our Technology Manager. We also have several key part time people to help us out during peak seasons. Our goal is to find opportunities to grow our business and partner with landowners who seek tenants who will care for their land as if we owned it ourselves. Agriculture holds an exciting future with constant change. We want to be the “leaders of change” in our community and profession.
rybergfarms.com 