In late May, Monsanto Co. announced they planned to purchase the Precision Planting operation from founders Greg and Cindy Sauder.

The ethanol boom that has already increased corn prices could possibly help no-tillers even more in the future by reducing their need for herbicides.

Over the past few years, numerous benefits have been demonstrated for seeding annual ryegrass as a cover crop in a no-till system. However, another exciting benefit may be the use of this cover crop as an alternative method for controlling soybean cyst nematodes (SCN), which can cost a no-tiller as much as 15 bushels per acre in lost soybean yields.

For several years, there's been talk in western Canada about offering tax credits to no-till farmers who store additional carbon in the soil. A few years back, Canadian utility companies saw the concept as a way to offset huge penalties for atmospheric emissions from coal-powered electric plants.