Although farm equipment manufacturers have engineers specifically charged to design and build no-till planters that efficiently place seed in the ground at the optimum depth, in a variety of field conditions, it’s difficult to find a no-tiller running a truly “bone stock” OEM planter.

As soybean prices came off highs of $14 per bushel last summer to trade in the $8 to $9 range, raising a profitable no-till soybean crop for 2009 got a little more difficult.