A few weeks ago, I spent several days in Denver, Colo., sharing ideas with agricultural leaders about the importance of agricultural research. This was at a meeting where attendees advised the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) on assessing soil resource research programs and planning future research needs.

To help the 660 attendees at the mid-January National No-Tillage Conference in St. Louis make critical decisions on controlling weeds and insects in no-tilled corn for 1999, technical representatives from American Cyanamid, Zeneca Ag Products and Monsanto outlined new compounds and label changes.

During the recent U.S. Grains Council annual meeting in Orlando, Fla., veteran no-tiller Jim Andrew asked an intriguing question of three chemical company presidents composing a panel discussing the impact of biotechnology on agriculture.

Try as you may, it's difficult to find any bright spot among the nationwide growth of no-tilled acres during 1998 to talk about.

If you're wondering what attachments might be the perfect fit with your no-till drill, check out the rock-solid advice from these No-Till Farmer readers.

At last months seventh National No-Tillage Conference in St. Louis, there was considerable interest in the soybean intercropping program used by no-tillers Keith and Doug Thompson of Osage City, Kan. With this unique doublecropping program they intercrop soybeans into standing wheat in early April.

If you or some of your neighbors are getting fed up with the results of no-tilling corn into cold and wet soils, take a close look at recent Ohio State University yield numbers before reaching any decision on changing tillage practices.

Nearly 25 years ago, the word "sustainable" started coming up in farming conversations. Even then, some folks felt you had to be an organic farmer involved in low input farming to be sustainable.

When no-tillers hear John Obery talk about efficiency and performance, they listen carefully.