Never mind the critics, there is plenty of evidence that no-tillers raising genetically modified (GM) crops are ahead of the learning curve, while the rest of the country and world is catching on.

For example, Oleh Skharban and Sergey Kosolap, two agronomists from Agro Soyuz Company in the Ukraine, are spending 3 months touring no-till farms in Nebraska, Kansas and South Dakota. They are learning more about no-tilling in a climate similar to that of their homeland. Another Agro Soyuz representative, Neonila Martyniuk, lives in LaCrosse, Wis., to study no-tilling.

Ukrainians grow wheat, forage peas, corn, soybeans and sunflowers on more than 106 million acres of land devoted to agricultural use, but barely more than 148,000 acres are no-tilled. That will change.

“We are convinced that no-tilling is going to be a solution for the Ukraine,” says Kosolap. “We have very limited moisture. Through no-tilling, we can preserve the moisture.”

While here, they are learning about no-till benefits such as improved soil, water and air quality, reduced erosion and the more efficient use of soil inputs.

Agro Soyuz leases nearly 19,000 acres of farmland back home. “We continually have people coming over from the Ukraine to study farming practices,” says Martyniuk. “Our farm in the Ukraine is a practical learning farm. We want to show the Ukrainian farmer how to farm and be profitable.”

Even as the Ukrainians make it seem they’ve heard the concerns of Rattan Lal (See “More No-Till,” Page 3) and no-tilling spreads around the world, U.S…