I’ll go back to the beginning. The M-21 Till Planter, what many consider to be the world’s first commercial no-till planter, was originally built from 1952-55. 50 units were built, and it’s believed that only 23 were sold. They were 10-15 years ahead of their time because there was no herbicide out to control weeds. Allis Chalmers eventually came out with what is more widely accepted as the first commercially successful no-till planter in 1966. The key word there is “successful.”

This particular M-21 till planter was purchased new from A.L. Vicker Implement, the International Harvester dealer in Claremont, S.D., in 1954 by Robert Schuller, a progressive farmer from the area. 

Robert participated in the South Dakota State College Corn Performance Test in 1955, 1956 and 1957. Back then, the college ran the test plots for corn yields, which were planted on Robert’s farm north of Claremont.

The original owner’s manual for the planter shows Robert’s handwritten notes detailing which seed plates were used and the sprocket settings for both corn and soybeans in 1955. He planted corn 9.75 inches apart and soybeans 3.5 inches apart on 40-inch rows. 

Fast forward a couple years, and Darrell Jansen, the owner of a local International Harvester and later John Deere dealership, remembered the M-21 till planter on the Schuller farm and decided to ask if it was still around. He later acquired it, mounted it on a…