Using cover crops, no-tiller Steve Groff of Holtwood, Pa., grew 190 bushel per acre corn on farm-scale plots without the addition of nitrogen fertilizer.

Kansas State University researchers are studying the feasibility of using land that had been enrolled in the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Conservation Reserve Program to grow plants for the biomass market.

Anecdotal evidence of soil nitrogen consistently being above expected levels in no-till, cereal-on-cereal farming systems raises questions over the established wisdom of how nitrogen replenishment works, according to Western Australian consultant and no-till advocate Bill Crabtree.

It seems clear that No-Till Farmer readers are quickly moving away from the old recommendation that you need to apply 1.2 pounds of nitrogen for every expected bushel of corn.

Growing an acre of corn, soybeans, or wheat in 2012 will likely cost much more than in 2011, Purdue University economists Bruce Erickson and Alan Miller say.