Below are key no-till takeaways from several of the features found in the December 2025 issue of No-Till Farmer.
Narrow-Angle Row Cleaners Could Boost Yields in Narrow Soybean Rows
- Install cab-controlled row cleaners to improve early-season planting success.
- Narrow-angle row cleaners flow residue, even in tight quarters.
- Keep planting speed in the 6-mph range to avoid throwing residue and soil.
Proof of No-Till Benefits Found ‘In the Plots’
- Treat your spray water with citric acid to lower and buffer the pH and help the chemicals work.
- When considering cover crops, don’t just think about how they look aboveground but consider what rooting they provide.
- Investing more time doing on-farm trials can help you unearth valuable data that enable decisions about equipment or inputs based on actual returns.
Getting to the ‘Root’ of Performance Challenges in Corn
- It’s not likely root architecture can be changed with fertilizer application methods.
- Root architecture has more to do with the placement of fertility than it does with rate or timing.
- In most cases, corn hybrids with vertical roots will do better with higher populations and stressed environments.
Putting Eroded Soil ‘Back on Top’
- Replacing translocated topsoil can restore productivity to severely eroded land.
- Adding about 6 inches of topsoil increased corn and soybean grain yields by 12–59%.
- Adding topsoil increased crop biomass but not emergence rates or stand establishment.
- Areas of soil removal had lower crop yields, partially due to excessive moisture.
Finding the Hidden Value of ‘Natural Capital’
- Improved soil biology supported by diverse swards, minimal disturbance, and cover crops, builds soil carbon that, in turn, stores water, buffers against pH swings and creates a habitat for fungi and bacteria that unlock N and P from the soil profile.
- Fields following multi-species cover crops often show better yield stability, higher soil carbon and reduced run-off.
- Once a farm has a clear understanding of the value and function of its natural capital, opportunities for new income streams follow.
News Flash... Carbon Loss Equals Yield Loss
- Soil carbon is worth more to you than anyone — protect it.
- The loss of soil carbon from tillage is proportional the deeper you go.
- No-till protects the fungi-bacteria ratio that is vital to storing carbon and nitrogen.
