Glover Triplett and Dave Van Doren seeded the first no-till plots in Wooster, Ohio in 1962. They’re still going strong 60-plus years later. In our Video of the Week, Warren Dick, who managed the plots for nearly 40 years during his time at Ohio State, reflects on the early days of the project.  

“My dad used to always say, if you grow a crop, you have to plow. Everybody knows that. You look at the history, back in the pyramids, what do you see? Oxen pulling a plow in Egypt. Tillage is synonymous with agriculture for thousands of years. To change that took a whole new mindset. When Glover, Dave and Jim Henry started this, the main things they wanted to answer was: Can you grow a crop with no-tillage? If you do, what is the effective rotation? How does that affect soil properties? Those were the main things right at the beginning. Glover Triplett was a great guy. He said the dean came to visit and they took him to the plots here in the spring. His wife told him, “Glover, the dean is going to fire you,” because it was so un-green.” 

And that was filmed by our Mackane Vogel and Christine Book during their visit to the plots during the spring.

Watch the full version of this episode of Conservation Ag Update.