The trend among northern Plains farmers is toward using less tillage to produce field crops with more residue left on the soil surface and strip-till is one system being utilized in the area. Researchers from South Dakota State University detail some of the benefits and considerations for implementing and managing strip-till.

Agro-Culture Liquid Fertilizers announces the release of Kalibrate, a soil-applied potassium fertilizer that contains 6% sulfur.

Strip tillage is one of the conservation tillage options available for managing corn residue prior to planting soybeans. Interest in strip tillage is increasing because it offers the following benefits

For much of the Midwest, this has been one of the coldest winters in several decades. Chicago hasn't seen a winter this frigid in the past 30 years, and ranks as the 8th coldest average winter temperature since 1871. They have also recorded nearly 60 inches of snow through the first week of February.

Farmer Doug Seltz says he expects "unbelievable" 40 percent returns from his latest investment -- a strip-till system. Iowa State University data suggest the return on his conservation tillage system will be higher.

Researchers with Ohio State University's College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences have developed a new tool that allows farmers to easily predict soil organic matter content and can help them make decisions about whether or not to sell crop residue.

The pressure is always on to plant effectively and efficiently. Because Yetter Farm Equipment knows the importance of hitting what are often narrow planting windows, the company is offering a new timesaving tool.

In a time of tight supplies of both forage and agricultural land, many producers are interested in making use of cover crops as alternative forages. Most cover crop species used in Michigan also have a long history of use as forage crops for livestock and offer great potential for dual use to improve soil while providing forage. However, if the cover-cropped acreage is also enrolled in a crop insurance program, Michigan State University Extension reminds farmers that it is important to recognize how intended use as forage may impact the insurance policy.

Two years ago, George Wheeler of the GWK-branch at Douglas in the North- ern Cape and some of the prominent farmers in the district gathered around a kitchen table to discuss solutions to tillage problems.