When no-tillers are struggling to climb over a plateau in their crop yields, their first step should be finding out what’s happening with the nutrient balance and biological activity in their fields.

Sometimes it's not the hybrid, it’s the farmer or subtle weather conditions that are the reason yields weren’t the best that they could be. Too many times, I see producers abandon a perfectly good hybrid or variety without understanding why it performed the way it did that season.

While many farmers desire to move toward a no-till system, the recent increase in continuous corn appears to put the two practices at odds.

When no-tillers get the nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium levels in their fields at optimum levels to maximize yields, they need to focus on secondary and micronutrients, says Ray Ward, owner of Ward Laboratories Inc. in Kearney, Neb.