When no-tilling, soils are cool at planting relative to more conventional systems. As a result, nitrogen management and timing can have a significant impact on your success.

While Francis Childs certainly doesn’t no-till, the Manchester, Iowa, farmer uses a number of ideas some ideas that you could use in your own no-tilling operation. Using a mini moldboard plow that works the soil up to 14 inches deep yet still leaves up to 40 percent soil cover from his extremely heavy continuous corn plant residue, he harvested an amazing 442.1 bushels of corn per acre last fall. For the sixth straight year, he took top honors in the 2002 National Corn Growers Association National Corn Yield Contest.

If you have any last-minute no-tilling questions, or want to offer any ideas for fellow farmers prior to the 2003 planting season, the time to act is now. The No-Till Farmer Farmer’s Forum message board is available for you to use 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Plenty of no-tillers just like yourself find knowledgeable answers to tough questions every day.

Making fantastic use of the No-Till Farmer message board, no-tillers continued to offer help, answers and encouragement to fellow farmers who are hoping that this season turns out to be a profitable one.

It was an active month for no-tillers in the field, and on our Web site. Despite being swamped with work, no-tillers found time in their busy schedules to hop onto the Farmer's Forum at www.no-tillfarmer.com and post their questions, answers and findings.

Our no-till farmer sponsored Web site Bulletin Board has been loaded lately with discussions on various topics of interest to no-tillers, from recommendations on which no-till drill is best to earthworm survival with insecticides.

Plenty of highly practical ideas for combining burndown herbicides with liquid nitrogen for more effective early-season weed control came out of a survey conducted last winter.