Probing for soil health

January 6, 2025 | Kriss Nelson

Young entrepreneur develops soil compaction measuring tools

Concerns about soil compaction and its potential effects on his family's farm productivity prompted Iowa Soybean Association (ISA) farmer member Josh Jeske to take action.

“I started using a penetrometer to test for soil compaction. I found it inefficient to collect those measurements,” says Jeske, 25, who farms near Eldora. He founded Terraform Tillage in 2020.

“I soon came up with the idea to use my phone to collect and map these measurements in real-time, and the SmartProbe System was born.”

The SmartProbe System includes a custom-made smartphone mount that attaches your phone to nearly any penetrometer. Once a reading is captured, it can be entered into the SmartProbe app to track areas of your field’s compaction.

Jeske created the first version of the SmartProbe app and then hired a development team. The app was officially released last fall and now has more than 150 users in 24 countries.

Advancing Compaction Assessment

Jeske developed a tillage tuner system to take soil compaction measuring to the next level.

This system can be retrofitted onto almost any tillage equipment, swapping out a coil spring on the implement to automatically map soil compaction with every tillage pass.

“We can now measure the compaction profile across the entire field with results being sent to a web-based dashboard,” he says. “Farmers can go online and look back at their tillage maps to see where compaction is in the soil, helping them be informed year to year where they can both focus and reduce tillage.”

Eventually, Jeske says he wants to see the tillage shank sensor become a “sense and act system.”

“The second it senses compaction, the system will adjust the tillage equipment to be more aggressive to help break up the soil, or in areas of lower compaction, reduce tillage,” he says. “Essentially, this will increase yields, help save on tillage input costs, wear and tear on equipment and more importantly, reduce excessive tillage on your farm.”

Taking Action

Jeske performed on-farm trials on his own and in partnership with ISA’s Research Center for Farming Innovation (RCFI) using the SmartProbe to test cover crops' impacts on reducing soil compaction.

“It was apparent to me the first time I met Josh he was eager to learn and had a large interest in what we are doing at ISA’s RCFI,” says Alex Schaffer, ISA research agronomist. “Since then, RCFI has had Josh do some penetrometer readings in our long-term cover crop trial fields to help us understand the difference in compaction levels in side-by-side cover crop and no-cover crop acres.”

These side-by-side trials of cover crops versus no cover crops showed a substantial reduction in soil compaction in the first 12 inches of the soil and a reduction in other depths.

“Using the SmartProbe System, we’ve seen reductions in soil compaction from cover crops on our farm,” Jeske says. “We now go in and only subsoil areas of higher compaction, and we had the lowest tillage input costs on record on our farm. I also had near or record yields on almost every field in 2023, despite facing one of the worst droughts in 10 years. We not only saved on moisture by cutting back on excessive tillage, but we also added to the soil's health.”

Environmental Opportunities

In addition to those benefits, Jeske was able to cash in on sequestering carbon by reducing tillage.

“I see big opportunities with the environmental play, and I think sequestering carbon is going to become  
even bigger in the coming years as the tides are already going in that direction,” he says. “My tools can help the transition process to reduce tillage much easier for farmers. My generation has way better opportunities, just from a technology standpoint, to make environmentally sound decisions work. Compaction is no longer a hidden yield robber.”

ISA Communications Squad

Jeske became a member of ISA's Communications Squad to enhance promotion for his family’s 125-year- 
old farm, his business and the agricultural industry he champions.

“It was a cool experience, and I received firsthand insight into how ISA operates,” he says. “The tagline ‘ISA invests checkoff dollars to deliver programs and services to improve farmer profitability, productivity and sustainability’ resonated deeply with me and I have seen how much impact each of those core elements can have on agriculture and our communities.”

Those impressions are also helping Jeske in operating his business.

“At Terraform Tillage, I strive to embody those same principles. Our products and services are designed to do more than just address surface-level challenges; they’re crafted to drive real, measurable improvements in soil health and farm operations,” he says. “Profitability, productivity and sustainability aren’t just buzzwords to me — they are pillars of our approach. Without incorporating all three, our solutions would be incomplete and wouldn't live up to their fullest potential.”

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