The story of no-till is regarded by many as among the biggest advancements in farming since the tractor replaced the draft horse. For this installment of YOUR NO-TILL HISTORY, give your knowledge a test on these important moments in the practice’s history.

P.S. Readers of Frank Lessiter’s no-till history collection, Frankly Speaking and From Maverick to Mainstream: A History of No-Till Farming, may have an unfair advantage.

1.  What was the name of Edward Faulkner’s 1943 seminal book on reducing soil disturbances that famously shared that “No one has ever advanced a scientific reason for plowing?” 

• Plowman’s Folly
• The Great Plow Up
• Tillage & The Devil’s Advocate

2.  What ahead-of-its-time farm equipment manufacturer was the first to build and sell a no-till planter, yet exited after fewer than 23 units were sold?

• International Harvester
• Minneapolis-Moline
• Oliver Plow Works

3.  Which 3 states initially had the greatest number of no-till acres in the first several years of commercial adoption? 

• Kentucky, North Carolina and Tennessee 
• Iowa, Indiana and Missouri
• Ohio, Virginia and Illinois

4.  Which manufacturer came out with the first commercially successful no-till planter, also credited as one of the 100 most important developments in worldwide agriculture?

• Allis-Chalmers
• White Farm Equipment
• Ford New Holland

5.  How much diesel fuel per acre is typically reduced when a farmer moves from conventional tillage to continuous no-till?

• 25%
• 33%
• 45% 

6.  Earthworms provide a wide variety of no-cost benefits to soil structure, nutrients and biological activity. How many more pounds per acre of earthworms are commonly found in a no-tilled field vs. a conventionally tilled field?

• 6 times
• 10 times 
• 12 times

7.  Kentucky farmer Harry M. Young Jr., the first to use no-till on a commercial farm in 1962, worked most of the 1940s and 1950s as:

• Implement dealer service manager
• Fertilizer salesman
• University of Kentucky Farm Manager Specialist

8.  What no-till early adopter later became head of the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service and is referred to as the “Godfather of No-Tillage?”

• Glover Tripplett
• George Kapusta
• Bill Richards 

9.  Which states finished as the top 3 for greatest number of acres under no-till in the most recent USDA Census in 2022?

• Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa
• Kentucky. Montana and North Dakota
• Illinois, Missouri and Ohio

10.  What land grant university boasts the longest continuing no-till plots to demonstrate long term data? 

• Ohio State University
• University of Wisconsin
• University of Nebraska

11.  In what year did Roundup herbicide hit the market, increasing no-tillers’ tools to make the system work?

• 1968
• 1974
• 1978

12. Which company was NOT among the first 3 manufacturers to offer a no-till drill? 

• Crustbruster
• Tye Co.
• Great Plains Mfg.
• John Deere

13.  How long did it take South America to match the same number of no-till acres that took the U.S. 20 years to achieve?

• 30 years
• 3 years
• 11 years

14.  Why was a U.S. farmer’s plans to no-till 50,000 acres of soybeans in Ukraine denied in 1993?

• Inadequate no-till seeding equipment 
• Lack of understanding of weed control products
• Farm labor concerns

15.  Following the rapid growth of no-till in the 1980s, soil erosion was reduced by what percent of U.S. cropland between 1982 and 1997?

• 18%
• 28%
• 40%

16.  What is the highest no-till corn yields ever achieved in the National Corn Growers Assn. (irrigated category)?

• 590 bu/acre 
• 324.6 bu/acre
• 368.4 bu/acre

17.  What is the location of the annual event known to have introduced and demonstrated the most no-till equipment prototypes?

• Milan, Tenn.
• Decatur, Ill.
• Columbus, Ohio

18.  Which U.S. Farm Bill included a conservation title for the first time, permanently enshrining conservation into the Farm Bill?

• 1981
• 1985
• 1990

19.  The self-propelled sprayer would become an important investment for no-tillers who needed timely application on their ever-increasing acreages. What year was the first self-propelled sprayer invented?

• 1947 
• 1972
• 1974

20.  According to several University of Kentucky Research studies in the 1980s, what percent of soil erosion was no-till reported to have eliminated?

• 30-50%
• 60-80% 
• Above 90%