An innovative no-tiller has developed a dual-application system for anhydrous ammonia and granular fertilizer that minimizes soil disturbance.

While the fear of failure keeps many farmers from pulling the trigger on game-changing decisions, the lessons of conservation farming were drilled into Blake Vince’s head by his father at an early age.

Documenting failures and successes in a photo journal helps North Dakota no-tiller Kevin Larson evaluate and build on his no-till system.

Just down the road from the machine shed of Pennville, Ind., strip-tiller Shane Houck, a tan boulder stands halfway between the edge of the cornfield and the county blacktop. Cut into the top of the rock is the inscription, “Houck Homestead Farm 1838.”

While many strip-tillers would have preferred to build strips and put down fertilizer in the fall, a late harvest prevented much of the work from being completed.

Having his own strip-till unit to put down pre-plant nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium for corn was an idea that always bubbled on the back burner for Fred Abels. The Holland, Iowa, no-tiller thought he could incorporate just such a home-built unit into his current no-till operation.