According to 2024 No-Till Farmer Benchmark Study, almost 90% of you plant corn in 30-inch rows. Sparta, Wis., no-tiller Jim Leverich is among the other 10%.  He’s been no-tilling corn in 20-inch rows with his Case IH 1245 planter for a long time. Let’s find out why.

“Even though we don’t have small tires on the tractor, the row is actually in between the tires. We’re always conscious of that when we’re planting, that we’re not impacting that plant zone. We also try to use low air tire pressure. Tractors that aren’t overweighted, trying to be conscious of compaction issues that can occur at planting. We found a 5-7% yield increase. The last year I ran a trial was in 2005. There was a 21-bushel advantage to 20-inch rows over 30-inch rows. We also found more advantage in lighter soils than heavier soils. We’ve stayed with 20-inch rows on our farm over 30-inch rows because we feel that it’s a definite economic advantage to us.”

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