Long before cover crops became a hot topic among farmers, Wellman, Iowa, no-tiller Dennis Berger drilled cereal rye in the fall of 1978. Then in the spring of 1979, he used paraquat to kill the rye before no-tilling corn

When I planted my first cover crop — cereal rye — in 1978 to control erosion on poorly drained, hilly clay soils, I had no idea what the full ramifications of that decision would be. Since then, cover crops have become the anchor of a diverse crop rotation in our continuous no-till system.

It may seem improbable and even Terry Dahmer admits his neighbors have thought it a bit unusual, but each spring you’ll find the Marion, Ill., no-tiller pulling a soybean drill through fields of cereal rye about 5 feet tall.