Better late than never. Fueled by a tremendous number of walk-up registrations, the 11th annual National No-Tillage Conference, sponsored by Bayer Crop Science, Dow AgroSciences, Na-Churs Alpine Solutions, Landec Ag, Monsanto and Syngenta Crop Protection, once again put together more than 660 of the best no-tilling minds in North America.

The 666 attendees from numerous states were treated to a wide range of no-tilling topics and many hours of valuable one-on-one networking in the hotel hallways. With 80 no-till roundtable sessions to choose from, 18 no-till classrooms, seven general sessions and 54 speakers on hand, Indianapolis was the place to be to start your 2003 no-tilling season on the right foot.

Farm Bill Is Hot-Button Issue

If there was one thing no-tillers were looking to take away from this conference — it was a better understanding of the Farm Bill.

The opening early-bird Wednesday night session featured four knowledgeable no-tillers who tried to explain how the Farm Bill will affect their operation.

Erik Hayenga, who no-tills 9,000 acres of corn, soybeans and spring wheat at Andover, S.D., believes the Farm Bill is going to be universally beneficial for farmers who both till and those who no-till — despite what some publications are saying.

“Think of the Farm Bill as a pinata stuffed with $11 billion worth of $100 bills,” Hayenga explains. “The ag press would have you believe that those of us no-tillers who are already conservationists are going to get a Louisville Slugger when it comes to be our…