For Mike Guetterman, who farms 7,000 no-till acres with his father and brothers, small details make a big difference in the success of a continuous no-till program.

Can saving money now on fertilizer pay off down the road or are you better off spending a little extra money to see better results in your no-tilled fields?

Deep-banding fertilizer sounded like a great idea to Brad Mathson when he first heard about it. However, participating in a no-till club saved him from spending $30,000 to find out that it probably isn’t the best way to increase no-till yields in his operation.

What started out as an experiment with no-till grain sorghum has led Benedict, Kan., farmer Jerry Guenther to national prominence as one of the country’s top-yielding grain sorghum producers.

No-Till is not a machine, not a crop and not residue. Instead, no-till is a combination of all the critical things you need to produce the best crop with the least cost and the most sustainability. That’s been our farm goal for the past quarter-century.

If you have any last-minute no-tilling questions, or want to offer any ideas for fellow farmers prior to the 2003 planting season, the time to act is now. The No-Till Farmer Farmer’s Forum message board is available for you to use 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Plenty of no-tillers just like yourself find knowledgeable answers to tough questions every day.