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NAME: Dave Dum, planter specialist

LOCATION: Binkley & Hurst, Lititz, Pa., an ag equipment retailer covering much of the Mid-Atlantic region.

YEARS NO-TILLING: 20

CROPS NO-TILLED: Customers grow corn, soybeans, vegetables, alfalfa and cover crops.

The steady growth of no-till farming in the Chesapeake Bay areas of Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia has become a classic example of putting conservation farming methods to work to help save a major natural resource.

It has been equally pleasing for us to learn that while the shift to no-till and the use of cover crops has played a significant role in keeping nutrients on the land, it has also improved the farm profitability of our customers.

Catering To No-Till

I’m proud that our company, Binkley & Hurst, founded in Lititz, Pa., in 1939, was one of the first Mid-Atlantic equipment dealers to make a firm commitment to no-till.

More than 20 years ago, our management team devoted the resources to educate our sales and service staff so they could in turn help customers choose the specialized no-till planting equipment that would work best on their individual farms — as well as accumulating the smarts to keep the equipment running in like-new condition year after year.

At the time, it was a pretty big bite for the company to take, since the owners knew that embracing no-till would likely result in fewer sales of field cultivators, chisel plows, discs and other tillage equipment.

In retrospect, it was probably one of the best…