Younger members of the Peterson family that runs Peterson Farm Bros. near Assaria, Kan., shares their love for no-till residue and soil health in this parody of Ed Sheeran’s hit song “Shape of You.” The family raises 1,400 acres of corn, alfalfa and forage sorghum as food for beef cattle and wheat, milo and soybeans for cash crops.

To get a sense of which herbicides can be used before a specific cover crop species and which can’t, Purdue University weed scientist Bryan Young compiled research from the University of Wisconsin, Purdue University, University of Missouri and Penn State University, as well as commercial research conducted by retired University of Illinois Extension agronomist Mike Plumer.

A product that serves as a foundation for innovative no-tillers looking to reduce compaction and enhance soil tilth has taken the top prize as No-Till Product Of The Year for 2012.

One benefit of planting cover crops after corn silage, small grain, or a processing vegetable crop, or after a manure application is that the cover crop can take up residual nitrate and reduce the risk of nitrate leaching between harvest and planting.