Tillage radishes aren't the only cover crop you’ll find growing on Steve Groff’s farm this year. The no-tiller of Cedar Meadow Farm in Lancaster County, Pa., is on a quest to find the next great cover crop for no-tillers.

Economic, conservation and scientific reasons appear to be pushing no-tillers toward applying less nitrogen in their fields.

Cover crops' specialist David Wilson minces no words when he describes the potential impact of the high boy that Loysville, Pa., no-tiller Charles Martin made in 2009 to seed cover crops into standing corn and soybeans.

The shift to continuous no-tilling on our farm has more or less followed the development of planting equipment suited to this method of farming. Rock County, Wis., which borders northern Illinois, is the top soybean producing county in the state.

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.

How would you like to eliminate shallow compaction, inject manure, seed a cover crop, improve soil quality and protect the environment — all in a single pass? All while boosting your chances of increased yields and profits.