David Hula captured top no-till yield honors in last fall’s National Corn Growers Association contest with a yield of 319.3 bushels per acre. While this Charles City, Va., no-tiller’s result was about double the current national average, 300 bushels is a yield some industry leaders are anticipating as being typical just 20 years from now.

No-tillers drop seeds into hostile territory like paratroopers parachuting into battle. Once in the soil, they have to fight through disease, insects, nematodes and often cold stress before emerging victorious as a strong, vigorous seedling.