Imgaine gaining 20 more bushels of corn per acre or similarly significant jumps in soybean, wheat and other crop yields. It could be possible next year just just by treating the phosphorus applied to your no-till fields with a new compound designed to improve uptake of the nutrient.

Just about every no-tiller I’ve ever met would agree that at some point you start to wonder if you were really smart to move away from the “safety” of conventional systems.

With all of the talk about modifying no-till planters and adjusting fertilizer rates to increase profits, some believe that one of the best kept secrets to a successful no-till operation lies in the ability to keep plants in the soil as long as you can.

It’s easy to tell that no-tillers want exactly the right tools for the job, especially when it comes to the big-ticket items needed in the fields.This month we offer another helping of insights and opinions to chew on while spring makes its way back to us.

A lot has changed at the Worth and Dee Ellis farm in Eminence, Ky., since 1999 when No-Till Farmer published a story about our operation. We farm more land now.

Whether it's managing residue or growing a cover crop ahead of alfalfa, details about what has worked on other farms offers a head start toward success. Growers asking for valuable input often find answers at Farmers’ Forum, the online bulletin board at www.no-tillfarmer.com. As always, we’ll share some of that information here.

While Hypoxia has been a serious issue for a half dozen years in the Gulf Of Mexico, pollution and sediment left nearly half of the Chesapeake Bay so depleted of oxygen this summer that it couldn’t sustain aquatic life.

Many no-tillers are thinking about short-season crops, forage and ground covers, and some of those growers turned to Farmer’s Forum, the online bulletin board at www.no-tillfarmer.com, for advice from folks with experience in similar situations. Here are highlights from their discussions.