When soybean prices were hovering around $5 a bushel several years ago, farmers could justify their decision to plant, fertilize and spray their corn crop first.

To gauge the world’s supply of arable farming acres, an agricultural expert once compared Earth to the size of an apple, cut into 32 slices. The number of acres suitable for food production represents only one slice, and the apple’s skin represents the world’s supply of topsoil.

Had two young researchers listened to the ridicule and scorn they faced 5 decades ago, no-till farming might not have grown as much as it has.

As no-till farming celebrates its 50th year in the U.S., it’s important to remember how its acceptance and growth came about.

When Allan Brooks and his father, Gil, started no-tilling vegetable crops in northern Wisconsin more than 40 years ago, they paid their penance.

Citing more than two decades of studies, researchers, agronomists and crop consultants said during a soil-improvement symposium that gypsum is helping no-tillers remediate imbalanced soils, improve water filtration and even step up plant fertility.

One tip often shared by yield-contest winners is keeping no-till field conditions uniform, with even plant growth and competition for moisture and nutrients, says University of Nebraska Extension engineer Paul Jasa.

It’s not likely you’ll find Martinsville, Ohio, no-tiller Ed Winkle running on automatic. When harvest is over, the work is just beginning as he explores how to make the soils on his farm work better.

No-tillers face some important decisions this fall on what to do with fields that went unplanted because of spring storms that inundated the Midwest.