Adam Chappell remembers when he decided to remove two elements from his farm’s periodic table. Until 2015, the fourth-generation Arkansas no-tiller and 2022 Responsible Nutrient Management Practitioners Award recipient had been purchasing the usual rates of phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) on his family land outside of Cotton Plant, Ark., where he farms with his brother, Seth.

Had someone told Kelly Kravig 20 years ago that 500-horsepower combines would be rumbling through fields at harvest, the Case IH combine marketing manager and western Kansas grain farmer would have been skeptical at the very least.

When you have a spring season like 2008, you can understand why some growers make an effort to apply at least some of their nitrogen in the fall. But just because you get your nitrogen applied before winter flies, that doesn’t mean it will all be there next spring and summer when your corn needs it.

If you’re going to make strip-till work, Steve Cubbage warns you, first of all, that it isn’t for the “faint of heart.”

Under the no-till conditions outlined above and with this style of seeding unit, my thought is not to try to chop or cut the residue. In my opinion, standing residue leads to more effective cutting with disc seeders that are used under low-moisture conditions.

I grew up in a family of farmers who saw early on the advantages of reduced tillage to save soil and water.

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.