Soil is an important part of our lives because it supports our food production. One of the most important components of our soil is organic matter. Plants that we no-till grow provide this organic matter and the nutrients which regenerate the soil.

Two Boyd County farmers look at switchgrass and see the color green — the money they believe they can make by converting the crop into fuel for electric power.

Fertilizer prices on no-till world markets dropped significantly last winter, but because of the buying cycle it has taken until this year for those lower prices to be reflected at local dealer levels.

Precision guidance, autopilot and other precision agriculture technologies can give farmers yield advantages and input savings when implemented into certain cropping systems, said a Purdue University agronomist.

With proper application of modern technology, farmers can afford to see their fields for just the rows.

Regardless of a farmer’s chosen tillage methods, he’s likely felt the pain and frustration of a slow, tedious harvest. However, for producers who have chosen no-till farming, their challenges might be a bit less painful.

Iowa no-till farmer Clay Mitchell shared his best tips on precision technologies that boost his crop yields at the University of Missouri Crop Management Conference, Dec. 2-3 in Columbia. "Controlled traffic helps create soil qualities in which we see higher yields," Mitchell said.

More corn growers are interested in using variable rate seeding (VRS) technology to optimize return on their annual seed investment. A recent survey showed that among Corn Belt farmers with over 1000 acres, more than one-third have VRS capability on their planters and 20% actually use this capability.

It has been a difficult fall for many no-till corn producers, as the harvest has been pushed later and later. And that has placed added pressure on fall and spring crop nutrition decisions.

One of the best techniques a no-till farmer can use to manage soybean cyst nematode is to rotate resistant soybean varieties, according to the preliminary findings of a Midwest soybean cyst nematode project.