GROWING UP on the family farm in Louisville, Ill., Randy Bailey thought the way to farm was to hire labor, have a lot of tractors, discs and rollers and work the land.

But in the 1980s, just after he graduated high school and took over the farm, the Farm Crisis hit and the equity on his land flipped upside down. After hearing retired University of Illinois agronomist Mike Plumer speak at a Farm Bureau meeting about no-till, he decided to give it a try.