While no-tillers continue to enjoy some of the highest grain prices in recent history, it’s clear that they need those prices to stay high, judging by their 2011 expense sheet.

Patience is a virtue few no-tillers can afford when the wind is calm and there are weeds or disease putting yields in jeopardy.

The interest in sprayers following the Asian soybean rust threat in 2005 has really never waned, for several reasons.

Greg Simpson has seen the big mistakes and speaks from experience when offering advice to no-tillers considering buying a sprayer. "The main thing is to ask yourself what your needs are. If you see a sprayer you like, ask yourself if the wheel spacings are right. Are the nozzle spacings right? Is the clearance what you need? Those are the kinds of things that should determine which sprayer you buy"; he says.

Because of a small window of opportunity for spring seeding, western Canada no-tillers are investing in large capacity equipment to get drilling and spraying done in a hurry.