Progressive leaders in four no-tilling areas were honored for outstanding achievements in consulting, crop production, research and education at the early January National No-Tillage Conference in Des Moines, Iowa.

Co-sponsored by Syngenta Crop Protection and No-Till Farmer, the winners in the eighth annual No-Till Innovator Awards program were recognized for their dedication to the adoption of no-till and conservation tillage practices. They were selected for their contributions to no-till farming, regardless of the type of crop grown, brand of equipment or crop protection products used.

David Moeller,

Keota, Iowa 

— Consulting

The owner of a unique farm machinery business in Keota, Iowa, David Moeller is dedicated to helping farmers get the most return from their no-till planters and other equipment. An innovative no-till troubleshooter, Moeller’s efforts to modify planters for excellent performance under no-till conditions has played a key role in the increase of no-till acres to an estimated 80 percent in Washington County, compared to very few no-tilled acres 10 years ago.

In addition, the president of Moeller’s Ag Service has developed a liquid fertilizer knife system that has made no-till fertilization much easier, accurate and profitable. Created for no-till planters that were not originally designed to carry liquid fertilizer, the knife is inexpensive, easy to install and mounted in proper position for extreme longevity. After being field tested on hundreds of acres of no-till, conservation-till and conventional-till, the knife showed virtually no wear.

In 1992, Moeller created a no-till planter setup without coulters that allowed farmers to no-till…