Developing a strip-till system isn’t an easy process. Just ask Brian Watkins who took nearly 15 years to confidently transition from no-tilled corn to strip-till, on his 7,000 acre operation near Kenton, Ohio.

Incorporating cover crops is a growing trend among strip-tillers as a way to retain nutrients in the soil, limit erosion and promote growth of organic matter content. According to our 2015 Strip-Till Operational Benchmark Study, about 48% of respondents plant cover crops in strip-tilled fields, up more than 4% from the year prior.

While strip-tillers are always looking to add a few more bushels per acre, it’s worth noting that increasing yields isn’t always the primary objective for adopting the practice.

Attending the National No-Tillage Conference always presents an opportunity to network and learn from some of the most innovative farmers and conservation-minded academics.

I’ve never been one for making (much less keeping) New Year’s resolutions. But there are always improvements — personal and professional — that I’ll aim to make throughout the year.

With fall strip-tillers are hopefully taking advantage of a mild autumn in many areas to get berms built before winter permanently arrives, they are also assessing options to maximize biological value of corn residue.

A scarcity of subsidies for conservation tillage methods, and the fact that most corn grown in Europe is for silage, are limiting factors to widespread adoption of strip-till. However, there could be potential for increased adoption in the near future — albeit not necessarily for the same reasons North American farmers utilize strip-till.

As successful strip-tillers know, the benefits of the practice come from being able to evolve and adapt the system to suit their operation. In other words, it takes patience to see the payoff.

At the 2015 National Strip-Tillage Conference Mike Petersen, the lead agronomist at Moline, Ill.-based ANP, Inc. offered five tips to help strip-tillers maximize the potential of their fertilizer application.