If the rain, ruts and soggy fields last fall make you think twice about strip-tilling this fall, Illinois strip-tiller Brent Schmitz offers some simple advice.

Strip-tilling and simultaneously placing manure can save the time and money of an extra trip, reduce commercial fertilizer costs, increase yields and protect the environment, say Midwest strip-tillers who have tried this practice.

Using 30-inch rows in strips could lead to higher yields, lower seed cost, less disease and a boost in profitability.

Toledo, Ill., farmer Stan Holsapple says switching to strip-till vs. no-till produced a yield increase in corn of 8 to 12 bushels per acre.

It's always good to get out of the office and talk to strip-tillers and representatives of the ag equipment industry.

Iowa State University's veteran ag engineer, Mark Hanna, outlines potential pitfalls and solutions for strip-tilling this fall if dry weather persists.

Having 200 farmers, agronomists and other agri-business people at a recent summer field day represents a great turnout in any year, but it may be even more noteworthy this summer.

When weeks go by with less than an inch of rain, no tillage system magically makes crops grow and fill ears and pods.

Having 200 farmers, agronomists and other agri-business people at a recent summer field day represents a great turnout in any year, but it may be even more noteworthy this summer. To me, it was heartening to hear that last week's residue management field day sponsored by the Hancock Soil & Water Conservation District in western Illinois drew that many people. It means that despite the drought, people are looking ahead

When I met Jay Petty at a strip-till meeting last June, the Pasco, Wash., farmer was still evaluating strip-till. That evaluation meant working with a salesman at a local Deere dealership, watching fields being strip-tilled and talking with a strip-tiller.