As harvest season approaches in Vincennes, Ind., the region brings unique challenges for growers in the area. For Ray McCormick, this is nothing he hasn’t dealt with before.

No-Till Living Legend Ray McCormick will do just about anything for conservation. Whether it’s turning farmland into wetlands or buying an electric Ford Lightning F-150 pickup truck, McCormick makes decisions based on what’s best for the environment.

The future of Loran Steinlage's operation and the agriculture industry weighed on the No-Till Innovator throughout 2023. David Brandt, Steinlage’s mentor and close friend, died unexpectedly in May, leaving Steinlage with a mission to carry on Brandt’s vision to create a farmer-to-farmer learning center in southwestern Wisconsin.

The 2023 planting season had No-Till Farmer Conservation Ag Operator Fellow Loran Steinlage considering retiring from the day-to-day of farming.

With 35 years’ experience working for the University of Wisconsin Extension, research is second nature for Sparta, Wis., no-tiller Jim Leverich. Now retired, he maintains a rigorous program of testing to get the best yields he can on his 1,000-acre corn-soybean operation that his forbears began as a 25-acre orchard in 1864. In testing components of the “4Rs” of nutrient management, he’s found anhydrous ammonia consistently provides the most efficient source of nitrogen (N) while offering the highest level of safety for the environment.

Sparta, Wis., home to Jim Leverich, No-Till Farmer’s 2022 Conservation Ag Operator Fellow, is not far from the beautiful sandstone bluffs of the Mississippi River. Hugging the west-central part of the state, Leverich’s farm features a range of soils from sandy loam to heavier clay loam soils.