Practically anything you ever wanted to know about no-till was discussed during the ninth annual National No-Tillage Conference held in Cincinnati, Ohio, in mid-January. Over 700 veteran no-tillers from more than 20 states, Canada and several foreign countries shared their “best of the best” no-tilling ideas that have worked so successfully with other attendees.

Besides listening intently to some of the 66 speakers during the seven general sessions and 19 No-Till Classrooms, no-tillers picked up hundreds of other highly practical no-till ideas during the 4-day event. These valuable ideas came from 80 No-Till Roundtable discussions and from informal one-on-one networking with fellow no-tillers in the hotel hallways.

Good For The Environment

Jay Lehr agreed with what many no-tillers have always suspected; that they are doing the correct thing with no-till in their sustainable farming programs that definitely helps improve the environment.

One of the oldest practicing environmental scientists in the U.S. with 47 years of service, the international-known consultant from Ostrander, Ohio, explained why no-till, farm chemicals and nutrients don’t pose a threat to public health and the future of the environment.

He stressed why no-tillers should consider themselves environmental heroes rather than the perceived villains in the environmental community.

“As no-tillers, you are the best environment stewards this nation has,” he says. “Farmers read and hear almost every day why the environment is not good and why others think you are part of the problem and not the solution. But this is a myth.

“You need to arm yourself…