Low-interest loans — perhaps even interest free with the possibility of partial payment of the principal by the federal government might be obtainable through a program sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency.

No-Tillers planning for the 2004 growing season can look forward to a handful of new alternatives for protecting their corn from weeds and insects. Herbicide and insecticide manufacturers and seed producers introduced their new products to attendees at the National No-Tillage Conference held in Des Moines, Iowa, in January.

In late October, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a favorable re-registration for atrazine, which paves the way for its continued use by no-tillers. “This decision confirms what extensive scientific studies have shown — that atrazine meets the most stringent regulatory safety standards,’ says Mike Mack, president of Syngenta Crop Protection, an atrazine producer.

Two recently released research studies reinforce the existing body of scientific evidence that 2,4-D does not present a cancer risk to farmers and pesticide applicators.

For growers in the United States who are raising genetically modified crops, it’s not good news that the Europeans are suggesting new rules that would require the wider use of warning labels on foods along with a lot more red tape when importing our grains.

Many growers looking for a new way to provide both burndown and season-long weed control will soon have a new tool available in their herbicide arsenal. That’s because a compound named Expert from Syngenta Crop Protection was recently approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for use in corn and grain sorghum.

Monsanto has received full U.S. regulatory clearance for the first biotech corn designed to control corn rootworm. The company announced in late February that both the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has cleared YieldGard Rootworm for use in corn hybrids for resistance to this insect. Licensing the technology to other seed companies means a number of corn hybrids containing this technology will be available for no-tilling this spring.

Better late than never. Fueled by a tremendous number of walk-up registrations, the 11th annual National No-Tillage Conference, sponsored by Bayer Crop Science, Dow AgroSciences, Na-Churs Alpine Solutions, Landec Ag, Monsanto and Syngenta Crop Protection, once again put together more than 660 of the best no-tilling minds in North America.