A: “Among the best highlights of previous conferences for me is the revelation that no-till with cover crops is practiced all over and in varying conditions. Ray Archuleta explained what happens to the soil with tillage and all about the soil life, and this has kept me on course and even more determined to keep on keeping on.

“I have applied this knowledge on my farm and it has really paid off. Cover crops with all their benefits — especially controlling nematodes and building organic matter — are now an integral part of our operation.”

— Egon Zunckel, Bergville, South Africa

A: “One of the first things we picked up on was the use and benefit of gypsum applications. This was from a conference many years ago, and when we got home and talked with our crop consultants, they had little information about the use of gypsum. Now it’s a highly sought-after product with wide usage in our area of western New York.

“The second big insight we picked up on was from Phil Needham’s wheat management presentation. By us putting some of his suggestions in practice, we greatly improved our small grain production on not only our farm, but on many other operations in New York that have since adopted some of the practices and have also seen improved production, with many exceeding 100 bushels per acre and better straw quality.”

— Donn E. Branton, Le Roy, N.Y.

A: “There are many. One of the early ones was to…