Back in 1996, we made a commitment to farm more land without hiring any full-time labor. Thanks to a shift to continuous no-till, precision farming and more efficient equipment, we’ve surpassed our goals.

I tell my neighbors that I don’t want to farm anymore. I just want to farm smarter. That philosophy was the reason we went with no-till in 1986, and it’s the driving force behind other steps that we’ve taken to make farming more efficient and profitable.

Wow, what a year! Who would have dreamed that our no-till planting window in southwestern Ohio would only run from March 28 to April 27. The few no-tillers who recognized early that the soil was ideal for no-tilling had an excellent crop. Many no-tillers who waited for the more traditional planting dates never got a crop in the ground.