Since 1969, select farm plots at the University of Illinois have been in continuous no-till. In that time, the measure of organic matter has been boosted three-fold – from about 1 percent to 3.2 percent, without use of cover crops. In the same period, rotating between corn and soybean crops, the stored carbon in that soil has risen from 25,200 lbs per acre to 99,300 lbs.

Two Boyd County farmers look at switchgrass and see the color green — the money they believe they can make by converting the crop into fuel for electric power.

With this year's above average no-till corn height and ear placements 6 feet or higher on the plant, do we still want to pick the corn leaving an average stubble height or should stubble height be higher?

So, what's a better no-till cover crop for this area, rye or triticale? What's an optimum planting date, late August or late September? Could a mixture work best on my farm? These are some of the questions pondered by a small group of people that came to a cover crop field day Tuesday at the Penn State Southeast Ag Research and Extension Center just outside of Manheim.

Trap crops are used to absorb nitrogen from the no-till soil. If the cover crop is not grazed or harvested, the N taken up by the crop remains on-site and is preserved within the residue for use by future crops.

John Teasdale is trying to answer a question that might seem obvious: Why does rye work as a cover crop? Rye suppresses weeds without herbicides, making it a common cover crop on organic farms.