As I sit here at my desk, I find myself not in the countryside of eastern Oregon where my family raises dryland wheat and barley, but rather in the vast city of Quito, Ecuador.

A super lineup of no-tillers, researchers, suppliers and educators will share their best tactics, tips, tricks and techniques during the mid-January National No-Tillage Conference to help you no-till more profitably in 2006. Offering an extraordinary mixture of new, traditional and controversial ideas, they’ll zero in on what you’ve told us are your specific no-till wants and needs at this annual gathering of the no-till clan.

Results of a long-term evaluation of five weed control systems in northern Illinois indicate that yield is the major difference rather than the actual amount of effective weed control.

In the Mid-1980s, we switched from moldboard plowing to a conservation farming system of chisel plowing, discing and planting. It was the recommended soil saving system of the time, but we seemed to be stuck in place.

No-till corn yields comparable to those achievable with chemical nitrogen fertilizer can be produced with liquid dairy manure as the only nitrogen source — if the manure is incorporated at application, according to studies by two Ohio State University researchers.