Using single-disc fertilizer openers instead of shanks to apply expensive fertilizer can help no-tillers save money on labor, fuel and equipment and improve no-till profitability.

When it comes to serving a specific cropping niche, few folks work with one that’s any narrower than Dale Kopf. The Genesee, Idaho, custom seeder is offering strictly no-till seeding in the Pacific Northwest, where the system is also known as direct-seeding.

Judging from the number of articles and discussions threads on the Web about vertical tillage, it’s clear that no-tillers still have lots of questions about what the practice is.

Cut it, chop it, crimp it, split it, shatter it, size it, blow it, fling it or even explode it — just don’t wing it when it comes to harvest residue management.