“I want you to start thinking out of the box,” says no-tiller Dick Lyons. “We’ve got to continually change. If we are not willing to change, we’re not going to make it,” he says, pointing to the economic, competitive and environmental challenges facing all farmers.

The discovery of potentially devastating Asian soybean rust in a dozen southern states since last fall requires no-tillers to be ready to protect their fields with fungicides. And if Asian rust does race across the country on the spring winds, the demand for custom applicators could make their timely services hard to come by.

With nearly 650 leading-edge farmers, researchers and suppliers on hand for the 13th annual National No-Tillage Conference, the event again revealed what’s coming on strong in the no-tilling industry.

The essentials of no-tilling are severely tested in an area with a short growing season, just 12 inches of rain annually and the potential for frost 365 days a year. Those are the conditions that Tim Melville faces as he no-tills 3,000 acres with his sons near Enterprise, Ore., in the shadow of the Cascade Mountains.

Many no-tillers admit they don’t talk to their neighbors about the ins and outs of conservation tillage. Why should they?