No-tillers seeking more precise chemical placement have new tools that not only makes application easier and more precise, they save money in the process.

Corn stover has generated a lot of attention as a potential new source of plant biomass to produce ethanol.

New techniques are proving the importance of corn plant population to soil-based nitrogen management as no-tillers seek to get the most profit out of each acre.

No-tillers could gain additional revenue by participating in the sale of carbon credits from their fields. While the additional revenue currently averages only $1.25 to $2 per acre, the money can be generated with only a little paperwork.

A recent article in No-Till Farmer cautioned that growers should kill ryegrass cover crops before they get taller than 2 feet.

Necessity pushed Luther Welch into no-tilling. “The profits kept getting smaller and smaller, so we needed to farm more acres to survive,” he remembers.

Jim Koepke would be the first to tell you that he doesn’t consider himself a no-tiller. “There’s plenty of tillage activity going on in our soils, it’s just that the tillage is being done by earthworms instead of iron,” he says. “And those earthworms do a tremendous job.”

Booming prices for corn and soybeans have no-tillers looking to add additional acreage, and one source that might become available is expiring Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acreage. From Oct. 1, 2007, to Oct. 1, 2010, more than 13.4 million acres are scheduled to come out of the program.