So what are the practices that the top no-till corn and soybean producers use in their operations?

As a point of comparison, the editors of No-Till Farmer broke out the no-tillers who finished in the top-third for corn and soybean yields in 2017 from the 10th annual No-Till Operational Benchmark Study.

Here’s what we found: 

• The top-third no-till corn growers finished with an average yield of 217 bushels per acre to beat the average no-tiller’s yield by 36 bushels, or 19.9%.
• The top-third no-till soybean producers averaged 62 bushels per acre, which was 7 bushels, or 12.7%, more than the average.

Following are 14 things that stood out about the practices of these top yielders when compared to the average No-Till Farmer reader:

1 Even Bigger with Cover Crops. Typically, we’ve found the top yielders are slightly behind the curve on cover crop use than the average No-Till Farmer reader. That was not the case last year. While an astounding 82.9% of No-Till Farmer readers applied cover crops in 2017, 86.8% of the top corn yielders and 88% of the top soybean yielders used cover crops last year.

2 Seeding Covers into a Standing Crop. These top yielders are adopting the practice of interseeding covers into early emerging crops. While 3.9% of No-Till Farmer readers used an interseeder last year, 7.3% of top corn growers and 6.5% of leading soybean producers used the practice.

3 More Planter Attachments for Top…