For years we've known starter fertilizers have been essential for no-tillers to ensure early-season growth in our no-till farming systems. Using starter is necessary as plant root systems are evolving in size.

Over the last several years, input expenses for no-tillers in general have increased by approximately 21%, and one of the highest-costing inputs is fertilizer.

From 1991 until 1996, our publishing company produced a newsletter called Ridge-Till Hotline that was similar to what we were doing with No-Till Farmer. While the response to this paid newsletter was favorable, by the mid 1990s we didn't feel the ridge-till acres were going to continue to grow. So we halted publication, much to the regret of many die-hard ridge-tillers.

Fertilizer placement draws a lot of opinions about everything from when to apply to the depth of application. The many, sometimes conflicting opinions can be confusing about which to follow.

In a 17-year Nebraska study, researchers found that conservation tillage gave higher irrigated corn yields and profits than tilled plantings. The average yield increase was 4 bushels per acre, while the three conservation tillage treatments resulted in $8 to $16 per acre less tillage costs than the conventional disc tillage treatment. The conservation tillage treatments were ridge-till, rotary-till and slot-plant, while tilled treatments consisted of chisel, disc or lister operations for the furrow-irrigated continuous corn plantings.