On the drive from Brookfield, Wis., to Decatur, Ill., with two of my No-Till Farmer colleagues to this year's Farm Progress Show, we had about 400 miles of windshield time to pass -- some of which was admittedly spent lamenting the state of our pro baseball team, the Milwaukee Brewers.

Implement guidance and grid sampling helps Bonde Farms improve strip-tilled soybean emergence on sidehills and fine-tune fertilizer application.

Change is seldom a simple process, especially when skepticism and indecision come into play. It takes confidence and a little encouragement to try something new - a combination I've learned to emphasize whenever my youngster is faced with an unfamiliar challenge.

I always relish the opportunity to hit the open road and visit with a variety of strip-tillers in a relatively short time span.

After nearly 25 years of strip-tilling, Emden, Ill., farmer J.T. Hayes considers the practice second nature. But that doesn't mean he's completely content with his system. Hayes is always looking to improve.

Since attending the 2013 InfoAg Conference in Springfield, Ill., a few weeks ago, I've had time to digest the abundance of information presented on new precision technologies and their application to farm operations.

Strip-till is a niche and often complex farming practice, compared to no-till and more conventional methods.

Adopting controlled traffic and bringing fertilizer application in house has given Iowa strip-tiller Ron Neuberger the flexibility needed to trim input costs and improve efficiency.

During visits with strip-tillers, it's not often that I'll talk with someone who claims they have perfected the practice. Strip-till is constantly evolving and farmers tend to evolve right along with it, whether it's tweaking machinery, refining a fertility program or incorporating new technology.

Finding a strip-till setup to best suit your soil type, farm size and budget isn't always easy, especially if there aren't opportunities to test and see equipment at work. This was a challenge that Kimball, S.D., farmer Todd Boesen encountered when he first transitioned his corn operation to strip-till 5 years ago. While there were a number of custom strip-till operators in the south- central part of the state, Boesen says he didn't have a clear sense of where to start.