At the 2000 National No-Tillage Conference, Kent Krukewitt of Champaign County, Ill., revealed some great Internet ideas for no-tillers. Rather than focusing on all the features of just a few sites, he touched on the services and advantages of many sites to illustrate how the Internet is growing rapidly and becoming an integral part of business and pleasure.

Getting Started

• “When you’re looking for an Internet service provider (ISP), ask a lot of questions,” Krukewitt says. “How many people do they service per modem? How fast do they return your phone calls? When you call, do you actually talk to a person? I prefer local ISPs for the most part, because the service is better than with huge companies.
• “In my opinion there haven’t been a lot of really good no-till sites up to now, but university extension sites have been doing a pretty good job.”

E-Networking

• “You can network on the Internet much like at the National No-Tillage Conference, but you can do it all year long.
• “The No-Till Farmer Web site has some of the things I really like to see, like the interactive message board. To get real value out of something, it’s good to be able to provide information as well. It becomes the site’s ‘coffee shop.’
• “There isn’t a lot of no-tilling going on near me, so the Internet is where I talk to other no-tillers about farming.
• “The Internet is also a good place to find other people with the same no-till equipment problems…