It was with the best intentions that a few of us at the No-Till Farmer offices planned to drive down to Illinois this week to see no-tillers in action. We heard last week that some no-tillers might have been about halfway done with putting corn seed in the ground.

Mother Nature had other plans. We awoke to snow on the ground in Milwaukee Monday with more in the forecast for the week. Plus, some big thunderstorms were expected in the center of the nation, making no-till planting for most growers across the Corn Belt highly unlikely.

That said, the No-Till Farmer staff still plans to hit the road this spring. We're going to try for Indiana next week; Omaha (southeast Nebraska, northwest Missouri and western Iowa) the first week of May; and we still have plans to visit southern Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois no-till farms.

If you're willing to share the things that are working in your no-till operation and will allow us on your farm for a couple hours this spring, just email me at dbruggink@lesspub.com.

If we can get into your neighborhood during our travels, we'll be sure to give you a shout and arrange a time to visit. We promise not to slow you down, as we expect you'll be planting feverishly once spring decides to arrive.

 In the meantime, stay patient. You might want to start fine-tuning that combine until you can get in the fields and plant.