When compacted soils become a problem, as they can anywhere in the country, cover crops can be an effective solution, according to experienced no-till farmers. But you need to know which crop will work in your area to provide the kind of long tap roots needed. Visitors to Farmer’s Forum, the message board of No-Till Farmer, offered a number of possibilities recently. We share their ideas here, as well as thoughts about an assortment of other topics.

Eight years after jumping into no-till, Paul Reed and his three brothers had just about had it. “We almost quit no-tilling in 1990,” says Reed, explaining that as they expanded their no-till acreage, they also saw their planting window shrinking.