Nebraska Strip-Tiller Thrives on Spring Crop Rotation Flexibility Brandon Hunnicutt, strip-tiller in Giltner, Neb., talks about building his strips in the fall without nutrient placement, to provide crop rotation flexibility in the spring. He also discusses the potential of placing dry fertilizer in the fall to stay ahead of nitrogen regulations in the state.

New technology could give no-tillers the results of PSNTs in only minutes, helping them get more out of sidedressing applications in corn.

A historical analysis of corn research shows that new hybrids are taking up more nitrogen than older plant varieties after the crucial flowering stage, a clue as to how plant scientists will need to adapt plants to increase yields.

Engineered to produce the bacterial toxin, Bt, "Bt corn" resists attack by corn rootworm, a pest that feeds on roots and can cause annual losses of up to $1 billion, but besides merely protecting against these losses, the Bt trait has also boosted corn yields, in some cases beyond normal expectations.

Acid soils are becoming an important issue in Kansas, even in the western reaches of the state where most people think of high pH as a bigger issue.

With the New Year just a few days away, it's natural to reflect on the past year and what lies ahead. What did you learn from strip-tilling this past year, and what do you want to accomplish in 2013?

With farmland recently selling for more than $21,000 an acre in Iowa, saving $5.93 an acre may seem like a drop in the bucket. But paying attention to dollars and cents makes great sense to Cresco, Iowa strip-tiller Frank Moore, who's been farming for more than 35 years.

Even during the driest of times the strip-till approach can still do a lot for farmers.

A study by China Agricultural University's Department of Grassland Science and the Edisto Research & Education Center in Blackville, S.C., found that strip-till is the preferred environment for growing corn in the dryland, rain-fed regions in the southeastern Corn Belt.

Using strip-till and placing fertilizers 6 to 8 inches directly below the seed increased corn grain yields on the higher elevations, where severely eroded soils were largely devoid of crop nutrients, by 12% the first year and 26% the second year.