I must admit to playing a little catch-up after spending all of last week in Springfield, Ill., working with my colleagues at No-Till Farmer to host the 22nd annual National No-Tillage Conference. Our second-largest crowd ever with 1,024 attendees took in 4 days of no-till learning at the Springfield Hilton. While there were plenty of familiar faces, we still saw 408 first-time attendees. More than 500 first-timers were on hand last year at the NNTC in Indianapolis.

It’s often said that no-tillers choosing cover crops for their farm operations should have goals in mind. One could be scavenging nitrogen in the soil and holding it for the next cash crop, rather than letting this expensive nutrient run off fields into local watersheds.

You never know when ‘doing your job’ might affect someone deeply. But that’s what happened when former Purdue University ag economist and land owner Howard Doster opened the Jan. 9 edition of No-Till Farmer E-Tip and saw Kentucky no-tiller John Young and his son, Alexander, were going to speak during the first session at the 21st annual National No-Tillage Conference.

The Budget rental truck has been unloaded, hundreds of bags have been stuffed and stacked, and today No-Till Farmer kicks off what will likely be another record-breaking National No-Tillage Conference at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Indianapolis.