Data show there is not a lot of crossover between the top milk-producing states in the U.S. (in dollars) and the top states for no-tilled acres — that’s because many dairy farmers have had long frustrations managing manure and no-tilling. 

Tim Little of Faribault, Minn., has seen cover crops come full circle on his 300 acre operation. Growing up on a dairy outside Dundas, Minn., Little says his dad, Harold, was committed to using cover crops — they just weren’t called that in those days.