RESULTS FROM A mid-February e-mail survey of no-tillers indicate there’s still a sizeable degree of uncertainty about the late-winter and early spring fertilizer situation. The results shown here are based on responses from 135 no-tillers with an average of 1,491 acres.

Plenty of hallway concerns were voiced about skyrocketing seed prices by attendees at the recent National No-Tillage Conference in Indianapolis, Ind. With many new high-tech developments and traits creeping into corn genetics, seed corn costs have already reached $200 to $250 a bag and some no-tillers are scared that prices may move quickly toward $500 a bag.

If you'd like to boost your no-till corn yields by 15 to 20 bushels an acre, the best place to start this spring may be with early season weed control.

Mike Starkey doesn't have a problem investing dollars in fertilizer to push up yields. But the trained accountant and veteran no-tiller from Brownsburg, Ind., certainly expects a favorable return on his nutrient investment.