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

A: Plowman’s Folly was written by Edward H. Faulkner (1886-1964), an agricultural agent in the Upper Ohio and Erie Basins. After witnessing the soil being “worn-out,” Faulkner's concern with a “problem vital to Man's survival on this planet” led him to search, through observation and experimentation, for ways to care for the soil. His ideas were considered “mad” and without merit, until after his death when soil experts and scientists began to admit “We didn't pay attention, and we should have.” He came up with the remedy of using the “disc plow,” to cut and incorporate organic matter into the soil, rather than burying it deep in the subsoil.

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

A: The first commercially available no-till planter, the M-21 (2-rows on 40-inch spacing) was produced by International Harvester’s Richmond, Ind., plant. Released in 1953 before the onset of crop protection products, weed control hurt no-till’s chances for adoption and IH ceased production of the M-21 after 2 years. Less than 50 units were produced and only 23 sold. 

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

A: In the 1969 No-Till Farmer Tillage Practices Survey, Kentucky led all states with 150,000 no-till acres, followed by Tennessee (35,000 acres) and North Carolina (30,000 acres). 

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

A: Allis-Chalmers “No-Til” planting system was released in 1966. It is credited as the first commercially successful no-till planter and was recognized by the Equipment Manufacturers Institute (now Assn. of Equipment Manufacturers) in 1993 as one of the 100 most important developments in global agriculture. 

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

• 25%
• 33%
• 45% 

A: 33% — Conventional tillage uses 6 gallons per acre, while continuous no-till requires less than 2 gallons per acre.  Across the nation, that difference leads to nearly 282 million gallons of diesel fuel saved annually by farmers who practice continuous no-till instead of continuous conventional till. A farmer of 1,000 acres who switches from conventional- to continuous no-till saves 4,160 gallons of diesel fuel which at a price of $3.25 per gallon represents a savings of more than $13,500. 

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

A: 10 times — University of Maryland researcher Ray Weil says some high-quality soils no tilled for more than 20 years likely contain: 2,000 pounds per acre of earthworms. By comparison, heavy-tilled soils might contain only 200 pounds of earthworms per acre.

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

A: Harry Young was a statewide extension specialist during the 1940s and 1950s and understood the importance of test plots. He decided to try George McKibben’s ideas (from the Dixon Springs, Ill. test plots run by the University of Illinois) on his own farm. 

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 

A: Ohio’s Bill Richards served as head of the USDA NRCS in the early 1990s and instituted a program that led to rapid expansion of no-till. 

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

A: Kansas (11.7 million acres), Nebraska (10.1 million) and Iowa (8.4 million acres) lead U.S. states in no-till adoption.

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

A: In 1962, the Ohio State University established plots in Wooster to determine how much, if any, tillage is needed to obtain satisfactory crop yields. They are still continuously operated and known today as The Triplett-Van Doren No-Tillage Experimental Plots.

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

• 1968
• 1974
• 1978

A: Monsanto first sold the herbicide commercially in 1974, helping to contribute to a doubling of no-till acres in the 1980s. Attendees of the 1974 no-till conference in Hawaii received an early look at the glyphosate product’s use on the no-till plots there.

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

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

A: It was the shortline manufacturers like Tye Co., Crustbuster and Great Plains Mfg. who were the first to come with no-till specific products. John Deere came out with its first no-till drill in 1988.

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

A: 3 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

A: Farm labor concerns — Farm managers nixed Illinois no-tiller’s Roger Denhart’s 1993 proposal to no-till 50,000 soybean acres because no-till would’ve put too many residents on these collective farms out of work. 

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%

A: Soil erosion on U.S. cropland was significantly reduced by 40% between 1982 and 1997, according to the USDA.

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

A: Craig Hula managed the second-highest yield in the 2023 contest — and highest no-till yield — at 590 bushels per acre. His crop was entered in the no-till irrigated category with the Pioneer P10811 hybrid.

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

A: In 1981, the Milan No-Till Field Day first promoted the benefits of no-till farming and ushered in a new era of agricultural production. The UT AgResearch and Education Center at Milan is known as the birthplace of no-till farming in Tennessee. When the Center opened in 1962, western Tennessee farmers were facing a soil erosion crisis as they were losing, on average, 40 tons of soil per acre per year. 

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

• 1981
• 1985
• 1990

A: The Food Security Act of 1985 (Farm Bill 1985) included a conservation title, the first time a farm bill had included such a title. The three provisions “highly erodible land conservation,” “wetland conservation” and “conservation reserve” collectively constituted a major revision in federal conservation policies for agricultural lands. The law stipulated that some types of assistance from USDA would be denied to farmers who did not meet conservation compliance requirements. The subsidies and awareness prompts farmers to give no-till farming a try, and adoption explodes across the plains. 

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

A: During the labor shortage of World War II, Iowa farmer Ray Hagie developed a self-propelled “personnel carrier” to improve the time and fatigue associated with detasseling corn. At the end of World War II, Dow released the pesticide/herbicide, known today as 2,4-D, for use in the control of broadleaf weeds. Ray envisioned a more efficient solution to apply this product, which led to his invention of the world’s first self-propelled sprayer and founding of Hagie Manufacturing in 1947. 

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%   

A: University of Kentucky’s Dr. Lloyd Murdock says a number of studies found a reduction of soil erosion ranging from 94-98%. Most of the studies were done in the 1980’s proving the effectiveness of no-till on erosion control.