It’s often been said that a magazine cover is where editors announce their intentions. And our intention over our 50 years of history has been to provide no-tillers with both practical, meat-and-potatoes articles and in-depth content on emerging trends and practices meant to stretch the mind. 

In one survey we sent to readers several years ago asking what cover options they liked, there wasn’t complete agreement on what they liked or didn’t like. But you told us that no-till and soil health is what makes our audience unique and that should often be the focus.

So below are some of the most iconic covers No-Till Farmer has published in its five-decade history. We hope you’ll enjoy this feature and perhaps it will take you back down memory lane a bit. 

November 1972

This is Page 1 of No-Till Farmer in 1972 when it was under the umbrella of Reiman Publishing. The first edition was 32 pages. “Although we are editing and publishing this new magazine, we feel it is your magazine,” editor Frank Lessiter wrote in his opening column. “No-till farmers and potential no-till farmers are the people we’re writing every article for.” 

February 2006

Lessiter Media created Conservation Tillage Product Guide (CTPG) in 2006 to provide a number of benefits to paid readers, including longer-form articles, color photography of plants, soils and charts and more pages to showcase the newest products from specialty suppliers. It also addressed ongoing requests by suppliers and confererence sponsors wanting a regular vehicle to reach no-tillers. Later re-named as Conservation Tillage Guide (CTG), the quarterly magazine today still contains articles about no-till and strip-till, and a host of other conservation ag practices.

August 2009

A sunset graces a strip-tiller’s field. CTPG started carrying some of the most in-depth articles in the industry about strip-till, which was just beginning to grow as a practice. Even though Lessiter Media has launched its own strip-till magazine, strip-tillers still always have a home in the pages of today’s CTG. 

February 2011

This cover of Oregon farmer Garth Mulkey in a field was so iconic that it inspired the design of a series of 14-inch bronze statues of a farmer kneeling in his field holding a scoop of carefully tended soil in his hands. They were handed out to celebrate the National No-Tillage Conference’s 20th anniversary and other occasions. 

November 2011

This edition highlighted no-till’s golden anniversary in the U.S., and the pages inside honored pioneers of the practice and included a timeline of events that is updated in this edition. The film-strip treatment on this cover was perhaps symbolic of no-till’s coming of age, as the fledgling practice hit its 50th anniversary on a growth pattern still occurring today.  

February 2012

Soil biology expert Ray Weil brought a well of knowledge to our National No-Tillage Conference during his inaugural talk in 2011 and stunned the audience at our conference with his presentation on soil biology. The images from an electron microscope that he shared showed in detail how biological processes work in soils and what’s at stake with unnecessary tillage.

August 2013

Many things can make a magazine cover great, and No-Till Farmer has always made an effort to get farmers on the cover to create an emotional connection. Here, Indiana no-tiller Dave Chance is analyzing soybean plants as he began to adopt a more intensive management system for his farm. 

February 2014

This came during a period where cover crop adoption and farm technology was rapidly evolving. Here, the RowBot was being used during a demo on Holtwood, Pa., no-tiller Steve Groff’s farm to seed cover crops in between rows of corn. The machine could also put down fertilizer in the same pass. 

May 2016

No-Till Farmer has always had its good share of talented staff editors and photographers, but our magazine has also been fortunate to have some excellent correspondents in the field. Kansas-based freelancer Julia Debes snapped this gorgeous photo of Bill Buessing showing off cover crops during his field day in eastern Kansas. 

February 2017

This special cover, using a historic photo from one of editor Frank Lessiter’s early field visits, celebrated the National No-Tillage Conference’s 25th anniversary. 

One question remained as this edition went to print: Who was the guy on the cover? Frank couldn’t recall and his identity was never found. Frank is still trying to locate this farmer’s identity. If it’s you, or you recognize this person, you can make Frank’s day by sending an email to lessitef@lessitermedia.com! 

February 2018

While soil biology was becoming a popular topic in No-Till Farmer, microbial ecologist Wendy Taheri was the first to go into deep detail about the role of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi has in protecting and nourishing plants. 

August 2018

Loran Steinlage first spoke at the National No-Tillage Conference in 2018 in a classroom and had attendees holding onto their seats as the West Union, Iowa, no-tiller detailed some of the cutting-edge shop creations and seeding practices on his farm. Steinlage will return as a headliner speaker for our 2022 event in Louisville, Ky. 

February 2019

The cover summarized several stories in this edition that addressed the soil-based and financial benefits of no-till practices. No-tillers from three different states opened their books to share the effect various conservation practices had on their bottom line. Articles on optical sensor technology, soil biology and cover crops struck similar themes.

February 2021

No-till planters and accessories are often in our pages but not always on the cover. We turned to this blueprint idea to bring attention on our detailed story about Markesan, Wis., no-tiller Allan Brooks building a $350,000 planter from scratch to suit the diverse needs on his farm.

August 2021

Another income opportunity for enterprising no-tillers are the carbon markets that have emerged. The how-to article that was published about this topic was an essential read and we stretched our boundaries to create a unique cover that drew attention to it and offered readers an illustration they don’t always see on Page 1.