More than 800 farmers, researchers, educators and industry experts traveled to Indianapolis in early January to attend the 32nd Annual National No-Tillage Conference. Attendees representing 36 states in the U.S., along with the countries of Canada, China, Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy and Ukraine spent 4 days absorbing knowledge and networking at the event. The 2024 conference hosted nearly 350 first-time attendees and featured 12 general sessions, 24 classrooms and 40 roundtable discussions on a variety of topics related to no-till.

On-Farm Experience. A pre-conference workshop at 2023 No-Till Innovator Mike Starkey’s farm shop in Brownsburg, Ind., about 25 minutes north of Indianapolis, started off the 4 days of learning. Starkey invited several guest speakers to help tell the story of how certain products and projects have shaped the way he no-tills. Starkey farms 3,000 acres of corn, soybeans and wheat, and he’s been no-tilling since 1989.

Bob Barr, research scientist at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, shared data from the water quality monitoring project that’s been in place on Starkey’s farm since 2007. The project monitors the nutrient levels coming out of the tile lines in Starkey’s fields and shows low nutrient runoff levels.

Starkey also talked about tools that have changed the way he manages his farm and brought him greater success with no-till. Joe Nester, a No-Till Legend and independent ag consultant, told Starkey about bringing down the pH of water to make Roundup more effective. Starkey uses Verdesian’s Citron adjuvant to lower his pH from 7.1 to 2.8…