You,ve got a lot to think about. Which herbicide to use? Which equipment modifications should you try next year? And you still need to determine if your return on investment is worth your efforts.

Over the years since my dad started no-tilling in 1978, we’ve had a lot to learn — and not much of a growing season to learn it in. On our extreme northern farm that is less than 30 miles south of the Canadian border, we’re lucky to get 90 to 110 frost-free days, creating a situation not unlike Siberia (our average January temperature is minus 5 degrees Fahrenheit). This year we even had snow on May 11.

Despite whatever feelings you might have about the government, when it comes to no-till, Uncle Sam “gets it” and offers incentives to help growers adopt or expand no-till operations. That’s the good news.

In the Mid-1980s, we switched from moldboard plowing to a conservation farming system of chisel plowing, discing and planting. It was the recommended soil saving system of the time, but we seemed to be stuck in place.

Meet Jim Bullock. This no-tiller from Worcestershire, England, who also works as a farm consultant, believes that no-tilling is no longer an idealistic conservation idea in Europe, it’s reality. His switch to no-tilling on land his family has farmed for more than 485 years reveals what’s been happening on the no-till scene in Europe.