Folks from all walks of life were honored for their ideas and the innovative methods they brought to farming at the seventh annual National No-Tillage Conference in St. Louis, Mo.

The third annual No-Till Innovator Awards, co-sponsored by Zeneca Agricultural Products and No-Till Farmer, honored the contributions to no-till farming from the following people:

Crop Consulting

Joe Nester, owner of Nester Ag Management in Antwerp, Ohio, employs two full-time agronomists on staff. Together, they offer farm clients countless services, including geo-referencing, soil sampling, field demonstrations and test plots.

Nester believes in demonstrations as his top choice in communicating no-till ideas to his clients. Demonstrations, he says, allow growers to see for themselves how various techniques work in “real-world” situations.

This year, with his helpful residue management demonstrations, several of Nester’s clients were able to use Phillips Rotary Harrows for the first time in 60 fields and experience the multitude of benefits that no-till offers. (See page 8 of this issue).

Ag Supplier

Eric Laux, owner of Laux Farm Service in New Madison, Ohio, gives new meaning to the phrase “going above and beyond the call of duty.”

Understanding that he is the first contact for growers who want to know more about no-tilling, Laux starts by learning from his customers’ experience and passing it on to others.

Besides selling agricultural supplies, Laux offers numerous other services. What began as drying no-till wheat as a service for several customers turned into a business leasing no-till drills and custom no-till corn planting…