While it's been known for a long time that young corn plants are typically shorter in continuous no-till corn fields, Tony Vyn maintains this doesn’t mean there is an overall lack of plant height across a field.

Expiring contracts on Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) land offer no-tillers an opportunity to get a jump on the benefits of long-term no-till.

This years devastating drought not only robbed crops of valuable moisture, it reduced plant growth and protective cover for the soil. Conservation officials warn that the drought made our soil resource vulnerable to erosion and any tillage will only make conditions worse.