For Mike Guetterman, who farms 7,000 no-till acres with his father and brothers, small details make a big difference in the success of a continuous no-till program.

Turning your original no-till planter into something that better fits your specific cropping needs was a hot topic on the No-Till Farmer Farmer’s Forum message board recently. Also, veteran no-tillers hit the keyboards to voice their opinions about one farmer’s interseeding concerns and another no-tiller’s questions about his White 5100 planter.

Deep-banding fertilizer sounded like a great idea to Brad Mathson when he first heard about it. However, participating in a no-till club saved him from spending $30,000 to find out that it probably isn’t the best way to increase no-till yields in his operation.

When i started no-tilling, I felt a renewed sense of energy and excitement about farming. I’m guessing a lot of fledgling no-tillers get that same feeling.

Before you develop a no-till plan, you need to define what the term actually means on your farm. It won’t be the same for someone who is located a couple states away or maybe even a couple miles down the road.

As no-tillers strive for higher yields, they're no-tilling earlier every year - often in cold soils that leave seed more vulnerable to insects and diseases. In colder soils, there's also less microbial action to break down nutrients and get them into a plant-available form.

Phosphorus management is best understood by balancing the close-up view against the big picture.