Always looking to try something new each year with his 1,000-acre no-till corn and soybean operation, Sparta, Wisconsin farmer Jim Leverich says it’s important to find fresh ideas to continue to become more efficient.

Over the past few years, this has meant making a shift in fertilizer placement, utilizing a 24-row Case IH 2140 planter to no-till corn and soybeans in 20-inch rows. He uses Case IH row units with Yetter SharkTooth adjustable row cleaners. The narrow row cleaner is made specifically for 20-inch corn.

The planter has a liquid fertilizer system used to apply 28% nitrogen (N) at 10 gallons per acre and 2½ gallons of ammonium thiosulfate per acre. With a 500-gallon planter-mounted tank, Leverich can plant 40 acres before needing to refill.

Leverich abandoned the traditional placement of fertilizer 2 inches below and 2 inches away from the seed corn. Instead, he uses a ¼-inch stainless steel tube attached to each row unit to surface apply nutrients 2 inches away from the row at a cost of only $3 per row.

“University of Minnesota research shows a surface application of fertilizer is as good as placing nutrients in a 2-by-2-inch zone,” he says. “They compared different placement methods and found a 2-inch off the row placement on top of the soil worked as well as other methods.

“For no-tillers it’s nice because you can eliminate using a no-till fertilizer coulter for fertilizer placement. Using the coulter was a pain as it could often plug up in heavy residue conditions and added a lot of unnecessary weight and equipment cost on the planter.”

To learn more about the recent changes Jim Leverich has made on his farm to trim operational costs and boost yields, read Frank Lessiter’s article “It Pays to Try New Ideas Every Year” featured in the June 2026 issue of No-Till Farmer.