Shots are being fired in what could conceivably grow into a battle between no-tillers and organic farmers for federal funding and consumer food dollars. Both sides are claiming the high ground for their path to sustainable, profitable farming, and no-tillers aren’t backing down as organic farming advocates gain a foothold with the general population and even an occasional researcher.

While participants in corn yield contests often try a few yield-boosting ideas that wouldn’t always prove to be profitable across their entire acreage, they also use some ideas that may work in your own no-tilled fields.

An extensive historical analysis of no-till corn yields vs. the yields from conventionally tilled fields indicates that no-tilling holds its own and even out-performs conventional tillage methods in many areas of the country.

Having no-tilled since 1972, Paul Schaffert has learned a few things while growing corn, wheat, soybeans, sunflowers, milo and grain sorghum on a 2,000-acre irrigated and dryland farm in Indianola, Neb. The lessons have come even harder recently, because the area, which normally receives 10 to 17 inches of rain each year, has been suffering through a drought for the past several years and irrigation is now restricted to 13 inches per year.