Crop prices may be down, but that isn’t stopping no-tillers from using cover crops. In fact, more no-tillers are seeding them than ever before — No-Till Farmer’s 2016 No-Till Operational Benchmark Study found a record 77% of survey respondents seeded covers last year (see page 42), making 2016 the fifth consecutive year where the number increased.

Having started no-tilling more than 40 years ago, David Black has seen soil health and yields continue to improve. But getting there was, at times, a test of faith.

If no-till isn’t enough to stop erosion, what is?