IN-DEPTH NO-TILL LEARNING. With over 1,000 National No-Tillage Conference attendees in recent years, 40% are normally first-timers.

NNTC Insights...

No-Tiller Grows Much of His Own Nitrogen Supply

After losing more than 80 pounds per acre of valuable nitrogen (N) from December to April, Cameron Mills found several ways to make sure cover crops were seeded on every acre. The Walton, Ind., no-tiller says soil testing showed the value of covering every acre over the winter.

He found using annual ryegrass as a cover crop scavenged 51 pounds of N, 62 pounds of potassium and 10 pounds of phosphorus per acre. That’s a return of $66.98 per acre.

More to Automation than Replacing Labor

Scott Shearer predicts the cropping system of the future will include several 60- to 70-horsepower autonomous tractors weighing less than 10,000 pounds each. The ag engineer at Ohio State University says these tractors will offer adjustable ground clearance with sensing technology that will let them work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, without needing an operator…