Plenty of hallway concerns were voiced about skyrocketing seed prices by attendees at the recent National No-Tillage Conference in Indianapolis, Ind. With many new high-tech developments and traits creeping into corn genetics, seed corn costs have already reached $200 to $250 a bag and some no-tillers are scared that prices may move quickly toward $500 a bag.

Finding new ways to trim nitrogen costs is paying off for this veteran no-till family.

Growers understand that no-till has a favorable impact on soil management. It’s due to the many interconnections between tillage, cropping practices, fertilizer, soil amendments and other soil treatments that end up boosting your yields.

Even with many new cost-cutting cropping developments, no-tillers are definitely worried about having to deal with increasing input costs in 2009.

Taking full advantage of a mid-June opportunity to educate New York City investment fund managers on American agriculture, three outstanding growers made an extremely strong case for the many benefits of no-tilling.

While no-tilled crops are widely considered to be among the best ways to sequester carbon, the actual amounts may actually be tied to soil type, soil drainage and soil depth.

If high grain prices have you thinking about shifting Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) pasture or hay ground back into more lucrative crop production, don’t think you have to revert to tillage to make the transition.

While rising commodity prices may have led to recent changes in this spring’s cropping plans, a No-Till Farmer survey of growers last fall supported a significant increase in continuous corn acres this year.

Nobody has to explain why keeping costs under control should be a major priority during the coming growing season. With prices of everything from seed to fertilizer to pesticides to equipment on the upswing, it’s critical to do everything possible to keep your costs in line.

When it comes to change, myths overshadow reality and hold back growers from adopting new technology.