Mike Starkey’s 7^th generation family farm is located in Brownsburg, Ind., right across the street from a K-8 school and the biggest catholic church in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis. Farming next to a major city has some perks, like getting to see his beloved Pacers and Colts in action whenever he wants, but being in a heavily populated area also comes with the usual challenges.

“I have to educate everyone as best as I can about the airplanes flying over our farm,” Starkey says. “Once in a while I’ll go to the school and teach the kids about the kind of farming we do. They tell me their parents think I’m dropping chemicals with the airplanes, but when I tell them it’s cover crop seed, their eyes light up.”

In many ways, Starkey is just like those kids, constantly learning something new about his 3,000-acre corn, soybean, wheat, hay and beef cattle operation. He credits much of his success to his ability to adapt and act when he has those pivotal aha moments, 5 of which have shaped the way he no-tills today.

1. Drainage Matters

Starkey learned early on that drainage is a critical component to his no-till system. The old, 4-inch clay tiles his forefathers installed couldn’t handle the increasing amount of heavy rainfall events on his farm. 

“A 1-inch rain on the farm was considered a big deal when I was a kid,” Starkey says. “Now, we either get these intense 5-inch rain events all at…