After years of field cultivation and disc ripping on his family's corn and soybean operation, Ben Pederson believed he was improving soil tilth. But visual indicators on his farm near Lake Mills, Iowa, began to leave him less convinced that full-width tillage was worthwhile.

As federal and state government begins to take action to monitor and prevent fertilizer runoff into watersheds — especially in the Great Lakes region — some farmers see strip-till as preventative measure.

Making the most of fertilizer investments is on the top of producers minds as overall input costs continue to rise. The new 6200-060 N Keeper from Yetter Farm Equipment seals the slot that is opened during fertilizer application, helping ensure growing plants can take full advantage of either pre-plant or side-dress applied nitrogen.

To till or not to till? Mini-Cassia farmers are answering that question as more lean toward alternative methods to grow crops. Always looking for a way to boost crop yields and reduce water usage, many farmers are shaking up the established method of preparing fields and planting seeds. Greater yields, less water use and richer soil are some primary benefits they see from new methods.

A flexible fertility program and a homemade rig helps Wisconsin strip-tiller Alan Sweeney attain a 30-bushel per acre increase over no-till, while saving 15% on fertilizer costs.

Do you remember more than 10 years ago, when researchers and Extension staffers were doing all they could to make strip till a reality? Back then the practice - also widely referred to as zone till - showed a lot of promise, but there were also a lot of headaches.

Soybean is a crop that can remove significant amounts of nutrients per bushel of grain harvested. Because of this, soybeans can respond to starter fertilizer applications on low-testing soils, particularly phosphorus.

There has been a great deal of interest in recent months in the idea of using nitrogen fertilizer during the growing season to increase soybean yields.

Streator, Ill., strip-tiller Larry Tombaugh has enjoyed his share of rewards that come with the risk of experimenting with fertilizer application.

There is widespread concern about potential sulfur (S) deficiencies in corn and soybeans in the North Central region. Sulfur is relatively immobile within the plant, so symptoms usually appear in the new growth. Atmospheric deposition used to supply a considerable amount of plant available S (about 8 to 15 pounds per acre annually), but with the implementation of the Clean Air Act, this amount has significantly decreased.