Besides no-tilling 2,500 acres, David and Donald Sutherland custom plant 2,500 acres each year. As a result, the Leroy, Kan., father-and-son team several years ago needed a bigger no-till planter.

To gain needed management experience and research data, University of Nebraska researchers established a long-term tillage study in 1981. The 2006 cropping year marked the 26th year of the study at the Rogers Memorial Farm that is 10 miles east of Lincoln.

While there are numerous environmental advantages to no-tilling, it’s difficult to overlook the money-saving benefits.

While U.S. Department of Agriculture officials have been bragging about funding nearly $290 million in renewable energy efforts since the start of the Bush administration, most of the investment has gone to bioenergy and biomass ventures. In fact, much of their comprehensive energy strategy to help farmers reduce high energy costs is simply being promoted without offering any new economic incentives.

Are you still facing wariness from landowners who would rather not rent fields to a no-tiller? Or are you no-tilling leased land but suspect you’re getting the short end of the deal?

If he can do it, so can you, no-tiller Brian Watkins says of his work in precision agriculture based on a global positioning system.