As part of the 25th anniversary of the National No-Tillage Conference, the staff of No-Till Farmer honored 25 active individuals who have made no-till work and grow over the years.

These “No-Till Legends” include outstanding growers, educators and suppliers who have played a key role in the growth of no-till from 3.2 million acres in 1972 to nearly 100 million acres this year.

The 25 “No-Till Legends” were honored during the recent 25th annual National No-Tillage Conference held earlier this winter in St. Louis. Hailing from 15 states, they are listed here in alphabetical order.

Roy Applequist

◆ Roy Applequist, Salina, Kan. Establishing Great Plains Mfg. Co. in 1976, Applequist was among a number of short line farm equipment manufacturers in the early 1980s that saw the need for designing equipment specifically for the no-till market. The company was an active participant in Tennessee’s Milan No-Till Field Days, where a few drill manufacturers introduced narrow row prototype drills that had been designed specifically for no-till conditions.

John Aeschliman

◆ John Aeschliman, Colfax, Wash. Among the no-till pioneers in the Palouse area of eastern Washington, Aeschliman successfully no-tills some of the steepest hills found anywhere in the country. He and his son run a 4,000-acre operation that’s been no-tilled since the mid-1970s. They no-till winter wheat, spring wheat and spring barley in 7½-inch paired rows and also no-till corn, peas, sunflowers, garbanzo beans and are experimenting with cover crops in a 100% continuous no-till system.

Among the founders of the Pacific…