Pacific Northwest no-tillers will soon be taking advantage of a certification program that will set them apart from other grain growers. And since they’re already no-tilling successfully, many are already well on the way to qualifying for this program aimed at demonstrating sustainable farming practices to consumers.

New technology and setups are emerging that could solve decades-old problems with deep-furrow drills and encourage more no-till on millions of dryland acres in the Pacific Northwest.

Guy and Mort Swanson played key roles in developing no-till in a unique region that both desperately needed — and could easily live without — the practice.

Just because you concentrate on no-tilling corn, soybeans or another crop doesn’t mean you can’t pick up plenty of yield-building residue management tricks from other growers. To do a better job of managing residues, check out how these eight Pacific Northwest and western Canadian growers go about managing residues for top profit.

Since its founding as a small family farm, the Broughton Land Company has been managed for long-term success. For Dan McKinley, the current general manager, that means making no-till work on the huge operation that grew out of a family farm started in the 1880s near Dayton in Columbia County, Wash.

Mention crop rotations to no-tillers outside the Midwest and chances are good that they’re growing more than two crops. Instead of just going with no-till corn and soybeans, growers who direct seed in the Pacific Northwest include a large number of crops in their no-till rotations.