When your day job is financial analysis and risk-management consulting, the positive economics and agronomics of no-till and cover crops are easy to see.

Both were simply good business decisions for first-generation farmer Eric Niemeyer. Within 6 years of beginning to farm, he was a convert to both. What wasn’t good business was the risk of not getting covers established after harvest when stress is high and time is short.

Aerial seeding wasn't going to work on his small and often odd-shaped fields surrounded by homes just north of Columbus, Ohio. But when he saw a tabletop display of Buckeye Soil Solutions’ 120-foot boom, high-clearance Miller Nitro self-propelled sprayer converted to interseed cover crops, he had the solution.

"The biggest driver for me to interseed was to maximize the benefit of cover crops by getting them established earlier," says Niemeyer. "An early stand means more growth, with more benefits below the soil surface and above. I also liked the idea of being able to spray crops in the spring and early summer and then switch to seeding covers post tassel. The Buckeye system did both.”

Speedy Seeding

Sold on the concept, Niemeyer bought a…