As No-Till Farmer readers know, editor Frank Lessiter visited the Palouse region in the Pacific Northwest in early August during the 2010 small grain harvest. He observed that many Palouse (southeastern Washington, mid-central Idaho and northeastern Oregon) no-tillers and direct-seeders perform some residue handling after harvest.

When I'm asked what the primary differences are between no-tilling in the Palouse region of Idaho and Washington versus the Midwest, the discussion starts with our steep slopes.

Some 41 years ago, when a few colleagues and I began what would become a three-decade scientific effort at New Zealand’s Massey University, we did not set out to invent a new no-tillage system.

Just because you concentrate on no-tilling corn, soybeans or another crop doesn’t mean you can’t pick up plenty of yield-building residue management tricks from other growers. To do a better job of managing residues, check out how these eight Pacific Northwest and western Canadian growers go about managing residues for top profit.