After more than a decade of testing and four full seasons of commercial sales, Intellicoat Early Plant hybrids show increasing acceptance among no-tillers coping with cold, wet spring soils, reports Landec Ag, developer of the polymer seed-coating product.

Tim Manchester was nonchalantly looking over yield maps when the clusters of dots representing yields glowed as brightly as a K-Mart blue light special.

Before Paul Jasa will even discuss no-till continuous corn, he issues a strong warning about monoculture farming. The highly respected University of Nebraska extension agricultural engineer has worked for more than 30 years “preaching” a systems approach to no-till, including crop rotation.

Multi-purpose equipment aids efficiency, and current practices could qualify for soil and water conservation payments.

When we wrote about Ellis McFadden’s no-till operation near Fort Wayne, Ind., in November 2003, he noted two important keys to success. First, keep only equipment that is absolutely necessary, but make sure it’s all new or nearly new. Second, don’t be shy about trying new methods that help you farm smarter.

We started no-tilling in the mid-1980s with the wrong attitude, the wrong tools and not enough knowledge to make it work. It fell flat on its face. Yet, here we are in 2006, confidently no-tilling 1,300 acres.

Does precision farming, with page after page of information generated by automated devices, really make your no-till fields more productive? Or are you about ready to unplug it all in frustration?

The biggest crowd in years, more than 700 people, attended the 14th annual National No-Tillage Conference in St. Louis and went home with plenty to think about and put to use on their farms.