Lien Farm

Northern iowa

Trygve Lien isn’t your typical farmer in Northern Iowa. In fact, he’s doing such extraordinary things that a long of people are starting to notice.

To begin with, he’s an experimenter. In 2015, Trygve sprayed REV at 1 quart per acre on a variety of soybeans that grows tall and is highly susceptible to lodging (tangling). Trygve’s thinking was that because REV is known to increase nutrient uptake, it would probably make the stems thicker and stronger, leading to less tangling.

He was right. In fact, more than right.

In a county where soybean yields average about 45 bushels per acre, Trygve saw 98 bushels per acre. The local co-op was so astounded that they stopped midway through the yield check to recalibrate the machine. When the numbers still didn’t change, they had to concede that Trygve’s yield was higher than had ever been recorded.