Thirty-inch rows still dominate U.S. corn production, accounting for nearly 90% of total acres, according to USDA estimates. But an increasing number of early adopters are looking at narrower rows to get more seeds in the soil and broaden profit margins.

Somewhere along the line I earned the title ‘Grandfather of No-Till’ and I suppose after more than 50 years in the game the name fits.

I've spent a good portion of my career helping producers adopt no-till practices through extension, as a Monsanto no-till specialist and, most recently, as a crop consultant.

As farms increase in size and no-tillers face pressure to be more efficient and productive, the size of farm equipment is bringing an ever-present danger of compaction.

No-tilling for 32 years doesn't mean I know it all. Over the years, I've come up against many new no-till challenges I've had to solve. Some were easier to spot than others. Some I stumbled across by accident.

Although researchers are not advocating paved lanes or painted lines down the middle of crop rows, some no-tillers are being encouraged to establish regular “tractor highways” in planting, spraying and harvesting.

When Allan Brooks and his father, Gil, started no-tilling vegetable crops in northern Wisconsin more than 40 years ago, they paid their penance.