Over the years, no-tillers have seen the benefit of providing effective season-long weed control and its impact on profits.

No-tillers Jack Herricks and Justin Knopf may seem like they are worlds apart — Herricks farms in west central Wisconsin and Knopf in north central Kansas.

It might be more correct to call this article, “What I’m Still Learning From No-Tilling.” Over nearly 30 years, my farming operation has shifted from customary fall-spring tillage, through a period of detailed research and onfarm studies and finally, 11 years ago, to adoption of continuous no-till.

If the weather has cooperated and you've avoided equipment breakdowns, hopefully your crops are in the ground.

One of the most important steps in no-till weed control is to start with a clean field. This means you should use a burndown treatment to make sure the field is clean at or shortly after planting.

Protecting yield potential requires cleaning up fields before no-tilling, controlling weeds when they are small and mixing modes of action.

Marestail rising 2-feet tall, thriving patches of lambsquarters and robust pigweed are becoming a greater threat to no-till yields. A fall-applied pre-plant herbicide may be just the thing to help no-tillers start spring with a clean field.