While reviewing some interesting material I received recently at the No-Till on the Plains Winter Conference in Salina, Kan., I came upon a Top 10 list — one that pertains to farming, not pop culture or show business.

In the expansive fields of eastern Colorado, no-tiller Scott Ravenkamp is fighting a silent war against fallow.

I must admit to playing a little catch-up after spending all of last week in Springfield, Ill., working with my colleagues at No-Till Farmer to host the 22nd annual National No-Tillage Conference. Our second-largest crowd ever with 1,024 attendees took in 4 days of no-till learning at the Springfield Hilton. While there were plenty of familiar faces, we still saw 408 first-time attendees. More than 500 first-timers were on hand last year at the NNTC in Indianapolis.

No-tillers who use summer fallow in their rotations and are enrolled in crop insurance should exercise caution if they plan to seed or graze cover crops this year.