The “no-till, no-yield” myth is proven wrong once again. Chris Weaver just set a new non-irrigated world record with 154-bushel soybeans in Finksburg, Md.

No-till and cover crop mixes were huge pieces to the puzzle, along with an array of biological and foliar programs from Locus Ag, Concept AgriTek and AgroTech USA. He says he couldn’t have done it without his team of advisors. Weaver pulled tissue samples every other week and used a drone to apply foliar products. But the journey to high yields started with healthy soil, Weaver says, and residue breakdown in the fall.

Chris Weaver, No-Tiller, Finksburg, Md.: “We actually use a no-till crimper, like they use to mash down cover crops, but we use it in the fall. So, we take the crimper in, we mash down our corn fodder, and then we’re spraying Residue RX out the back of the machine. We mounted a boomless nozzle on that and it’s spraying out the back. We’re managing residue from the get-go along with Carbon RX and Sweet Success, and then we mix a little bit of molybdenum in with that as well in the fall. That’s all the prep we did. Then we’re watching the forecast. We’re checking the temperatures. We picked bean hybrids per field by the acre.”

Weaver says he didn’t chase a record with gimmicks. He did it with a real-world setup that others can relate to and stayed true to his soil health principles.

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