Although it has been available for several years, an often-overlooked, environ- mentally friendly slug-control product is gaining popularity in the United States and could provide an alternative to metaldehyde- based products for no-tillers.

Gypsum applications on no-till fields could decrease surface crusting while improving aeration and water infiltration, thus aiding crop emergence, according to Warren Dick, an Ohio State University soil scientist.

You can't talk about nitrogen management without talking about tillage management. And separating nitrogen management from management of no-till and other tillage systems can be dangerous, according to Alan Sundermeier, an Ohio State University extension educator.

No-till corn yields comparable to those achievable with chemical nitrogen fertilizer can be produced with liquid dairy manure as the only nitrogen source — if the manure is incorporated at application, according to studies by two Ohio State University researchers.

The potential for nitrogen loss in no-till presents you with both a problem and an opportunity, maintains Sam Ferguson, a customer agronomist with Dow AgroSciences in Omaha, Neb.

While the acres have leveled off nationally since the mid-1990s, a lot of farmers are having tremendous success with no-tilled corn.

Besides providing modest cuts in production expenses, the expanded acreage of no-till in northwestern Ohio is boosting farm productivity and reducing pollution concerns.