As a no-tiller, you can do everything seemingly right to give your crop the best chance to hit maximum yields, but if Mother Nature doesn't cooperate, it can all go for naught.

Besides looking at new traits, plant breeders are paying close attention to each new corn hybrid’s reaction to various production practices. These include a hybrid’s performance with post-emergence herbicides, foliar fungicides, different seeding rates, various planting dates, continuous corn and nitrogen usage.