Like many no-tillers, Archer Ruffin believes in the value of micronutrients like zinc to get no-tilled corn off to a good start. But it may come as a surprise that Ruffin applies zinc in a two-pronged approach when planting corn.

No-tillers Jack Herricks and Justin Knopf may seem like they are worlds apart — Herricks farms in west central Wisconsin and Knopf in north central Kansas.

If conditions permit, there’s likely to be a lot of sidedressed nitrogen going on fields the rest of the month. Guy Swanson, developer of the Exactrix anhydrous delivery system, says that putting down nutrients at this time of the year can be your most cost-effective application, but there’s also a lot of risk involved if you don’t get them applied in time or properly.

One of my first jobs out of college after I received a degree in business from the University of North Dakota was a fortunate choice. During the several years I worked for a professional consulting agronomist, I had the opportunity to see a lot of different crop-production systems throughout eastern Nebraska, western Iowa and northeastern Kansas.

Strip-tilling and applying manure simultaneously may make as much sense as other dynamic duos in agriculture, like corn and soybeans, ham and eggs and “rain makes grain.”

If you had to scavenge for food from Thanksgiving to Easter, chances are you wouldn’t be very productive and may not survive. The same is true of soil microbes.