You can't figure out what’s wrong with your no-till field. Your neighbor took a look and he couldn’t figure it out. You called in a couple of no-tilling friends to take a look and they couldn’t come up with an answer either.

But now with the help of digital photography, you can post pictures of what ails your no-tilling fields on the Internet and ask colleagues from around the world to help you solve your problems. As a result, Ed Winkle, a no-tiller from Blanchester, Ohio, says digital photography has changed the way that he looks at his fields.

Starts With The Camera

While everyone is going to have a preference as to what kind of digital camera to buy, Winkle says a Sony FD87 with a 6-power digital zoom and 1.3 mega pixels (you’ll probably want to go with a camera that has 2.0 mega pixels or more, which are available today) effectively serves his needs.

“It takes great pictures and quality pictures,” Winkles says. “There’s no use posting your pictures on the Web if people can’t see what you are trying to explain. I can take pictures of insects inside the node of a corn leaf and I don’t even need the zoom feature, that’s how clear the pictures are with this camera.”

Winkle admits that his digital camera, which uses floppy disks, is a bit bulky and cumbersome, but that’s not a big problem.

“This way, I won’t lose it and it’s a lot harder for someone…