When Nathan Wilson first considered no-tilling corn and soybeans he was worried it might not work well. He had seen some poor stands and weed control problems on other farms and field days. But it turned out Nathan just needed to set foot on the right farm to see the possibilities.

He attended a no-till field day on Neil Springer’s Farm in Knox County, Ohio, during the 1970s and observed what he termed “immaculate soybeans and corn” and waterways that went right up to the crops, which minimized erosion.

“I just remember looking at that and saying, ‘Wow, no-till doesn’t have to be a failure,” recalls Nathan, who was serving on the local soil conservation board at the time. When Springer started no-tilling in 1974, he was told by ‘coffee shop experts’ he’d have crop residue 2 or 3 feet deep if he didn’t plow the residue under.

Stepping Up 

The picture is a little different now as Nathan and his sons Ryan and Wyatt, have been no-tilling corn and soybeans for 30 years, managing a total of 3,800 acres as of last fall.

The first person to no-till in the family was Nathan’s uncle, Frank, who liked efficient allocations of time, equipment and expenses. He started no-tilling with an Allis Chalmers planter, driving only 3 mph to keep the fluted coulters from throwing dirt from the seed row. Achieving proper seed depth was tricky due to the gauge wheels being in the rear of the planter instead of near…