The more Jim Millar works with cover crops, the more credit he’s willing to give them — credit for soil building, nutrient recycling, water infiltration and the nitrogen credit for the following crop.

“Years ago, I got lazy,” jokes Montana no-tiller Arnold Gettel of why he first tried no-till. While fewer hours in the tractor seat was a legitimate appeal for Gettel, the economical benefits are really what drove the transition.

Like most farms in the Midwest, the corn-soybean rotation dominates the landscape in eastern Nebraska.

When the owners of Cronin Farms near Gettysburg, S.D., compared input costs to net profits in 1989, it was clear there was room for improvement in their farming process. Together with their farm manager of 41 years, Dan Forgey, and the rest of the farm’s employees, they began investigating the benefits of no-till.

We're no doubt biased, but my family and I think there are few more breathtaking views of production agriculture than seen from the highest point of our farm in the Palouse region of eastern Washington. In midsummer, flowing fields of crops — which may include wheat, canola, barley, sunflowers, mustard, alfalfa, peas and lentils — stretch across the hills to the horizon.

It’s hard to remember when we didn’t do some type of no-tilling or reduced-tillage on our southeastern Illinois farm. We really got into high gear around the mid-1980s. Some of our first results were with corn planted into wheat stubble or a red clover cover crop. We took advantage of the PIK (Payment in Kind) federal farm program during those years to make a serious commitment to long-term no-tilling.

No-tillers in Manitoba and North Dakota like variety. They know more than one market. They grow more than one crop. And every year, the view from the kitchen window changes.