Horse racing holds its three traditional “Triple Crown” races over a 5-week schedule each May through June. It starts with the Kentucky Derby in Kentucky, moves to the Preakness Stakes in Maryland and wraps up with the Belmont Stakes in New York.

We’re borrowing this horse racing jargon for three all-important no-till events in 2022. Our “Triple Crown of No-Tillage” consists of three milestone anniversaries during the coming year:

• First is the 60th anniversary of when the first commercial no-till field was no-tilled in 1962 in southwestern Kentucky, a field I’ve personally visited several times over the past 50 years. 
• The second is the 50th anniversary of No-Till Farmer that published its first issue in November of 1972. 
• The third recognizes the 30th anniversary of the National No-Tillage Conference, which is being held in January of 2022 in Kentucky, the state where no-till got its on-farm start in 1962.

Same Job for 50 Years

Unlike most folks in the business world who move “up” over the years, I’m proud to say I’ve held the same job of writing, editing and producing No-Till Farmer since 1972. I’ve had the pleasure of reporting on hundreds of significant changes in no-till since those early days 50 years ago, along with the latest ideas on strip-till, ridge-till, vertical-till, intercropping, interseeding, cover crops and many other important aspects of the zero-tillage movement. 

In fact, many of my best days have been spent visiting with no-tillers across the country. I can’t think of anything else a…