Citing more than two decades of studies, researchers, agronomists and crop consultants said during a soil-improvement symposium that gypsum is helping no-tillers remediate imbalanced soils, improve water filtration and even step up plant fertility.

It’s not likely you’ll find Martinsville, Ohio, no-tiller Ed Winkle running on automatic. When harvest is over, the work is just beginning as he explores how to make the soils on his farm work better.

Mike Starkey admits being a little worried when researchers showed up on his farm in Brownsburg, Ind., 4 years ago, asking for permission to monitor the tile outlets leading from his fields.

Success is bound to come when even the performance of water is held to a higher standard as it is on Keith Schlapkohl’s Stockton, Iowa, farm.