When compacted soils become a problem, as they can anywhere in the country, cover crops can be an effective solution, according to experienced no-till farmers. But you need to know which crop will work in your area to provide the kind of long tap roots needed. Visitors to Farmer’s Forum, the message board of No-Till Farmer, offered a number of possibilities recently. We share their ideas here, as well as thoughts about an assortment of other topics.

With fewer new herbicides coming on the market each year, no-tillers are paying much closer attention to developing more effective weed-management plans. As a result, no-tillers are intently studying how various herbicide and tankmix combinations perform in their fields.

If you're interested in harvesting top yields with Roundup Ready no-till corn and soybeans, it’s likely that you’ll have to add residual herbicides to the weed-control mix.

As the name suggests, a new pre-plant or pre-emergent herbicide named Keystone will help no-till corn growers do a better job of controlling grasses and broadleaf weeds next year.