Greg Simpson has seen the big mistakes and speaks from experience when offering advice to no-tillers considering buying a sprayer. "The main thing is to ask yourself what your needs are. If you see a sprayer you like, ask yourself if the wheel spacings are right. Are the nozzle spacings right? Is the clearance what you need? Those are the kinds of things that should determine which sprayer you buy"; he says.

The discovery of potentially devastating Asian soybean rust in a dozen southern states since last fall requires no-tillers to be ready to protect their fields with fungicides. And if Asian rust does race across the country on the spring winds, the demand for custom applicators could make their timely services hard to come by.