Although Trey Hill has been farming around 10,000 acres in Rock Hall, Md., his whole life, he’s quick to mention that he’s more a student than a teacher. It’s this instinct that leads him to perpetually tweak his nitrogen (N) management and cover-crop program, forever in search of more conservative and efficient techniques for the fourth generation family-run Harborview Farms.

Some no-tillers have had to replant soybeans two or three times thanks to slug damage, but there are management practices no-tillers can try to keep their crops safe while continuing to no-till.

Trey Hill of Harborview Farms in Rockhall, Md., talks about the cover crop test plot they’re working on with University of Maryland soil scientist Ray Weil through a program with the Howard G. Buffett Foundation. They’re studying the amount of nutrients the cover crops can hold onto and when Harborview Farms can expect to see those nutrients used by their cash crops.