Figuratively speaking, you could say that 17 years of no-tilling has grown Cody Gruhlkey a barnful of beautifully restored antique tractors on his 8,000-acre farming operation near Kress in the Texas Panhandle.

Davy and Andy Carthel say no-till adoption is reducing wind erosion and saving them as much as $11 an acre per inch of conserved soil moisture, as the future of the Ogallala aquifer becomes more tenuous.

If there’s a mistake to be made in no-till, Paul Jasa says he’s either made it himself or seen it done, and it’s clear that planting errors are high on the list of problems that can hurt no-till profitability.

Some growers in the Plains feel incorporating cover crops into no-till systems can’t work because covers will use up all of the available moisture needed for the following cash crop. But experienced no-tillers share what benefits they’ve seen from cover crops on their own farms.