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.

The pilot's work was the first thing Bryan, Ohio, no-tiller Allen Dean questioned when cover crops aerially seeded last fall didn't establish well on his farm.