Besides operating a business that tackles crop consulting work on more than 300,000 acres, Joe Nester serves as the director of a local bank.

It’s not surprising, as these pro and con discussions have been going on since we launched No-Till Farmer in 1972. But today, there’s more acceptance of no-till by everyone than ever before.

It’s not surprising, as these pro and con discussions have been going on since we launched No-Till Farmer in 1972. But today, there’s more acceptance of no-till by everyone than ever before.

While passage last summer of the American Clean Energy and Security Act by the House of Representatives calls for establishing a cap-and-trade program to limit greenhouse gases, it’s expected to have a serious financial impact for farmers. However, the financial penalties will be much lower for continuous no-tillers.

David Hula captured top no-till yield honors in last fall’s National Corn Growers Association contest with a yield of 319.3 bushels per acre. While this Charles City, Va., no-tiller’s result was about double the current national average, 300 bushels is a yield some industry leaders are anticipating as being typical just 20 years from now.

Even with new innovations coming for maintaining refuge acres with genetically engineered (GE) corn, there’s solid evidence that many growers are not meeting the current requirements. In fact, one out of every four growers who plants genetically engineered corn is failing to comply with at least one important insect-resistance management requirement, claim staffers with the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) in Washington, D.C.