In 2021, No-Till Farmer editors began planning the “Triple Crown” of no-till milestones that were aligning in 2022. That is, 60 years since the first commercial no-till plots in Kentucky, 50 years since the launch of No-Till Farmer and 30 years of the National No-Tillage Conference, to be held back in no-till’s ol’ Kentucky home.

Among the plans was a “simple” refreshening of the modest no-till history displays that debuted at the 25th event in 2017. But like many passion projects, it quickly took on a life of its own.  

Mind you, that between the 25th and 30th anniversaries was the release of my dad’s 416-page book, From Maverick to Mainstream: a History of No-Till Farming, and the popular “No-Till Innovators & Influencers” podcast series, now at 75 episodes and counting. New stories, anecdotes and facts continued to show up at every turn.

So, plans quickly grew into a full-blown No-Till History Museum. Thankfully, the project brought the generous support of Martin-Till and the Kentucky Department of Agriculture.

By the time the materials were affixed to the barnwood displays at the Galt House, this “new” collection featured 93 never-before-seen items that included 500-plus photos, 68 headlines, 40 callouts/factoids and 42 charts and 14 illustrations. And content still spilled over onto custom-built tables and equipment displays. In total, the No-Till History Museum totaled 2,064 square feet of vertical display signs.

If you were unable to make it to Louisville for the 30^th Annual National No-Tillage Conference, the No-Till History Museum gallery provides a glimpse of the history attendees experienced. We hope you’ll be able to experience it in person in the years ahead...

2022 No-Till History Museum

Scroll through the following presentation to digitally walk through the history of no-till farming. You can click the arrows to move back and forth, or enlarge the presentation to full-screen.

Click here to view enlarged images from the above presentation.