You could call Dean Sponheim an accidental conservationist. Well, at least initially, anyway. In 1999, Sponheim was frustrated that every year he had to replant a big chunk of a field that wasn't well tiled. "I was looking for a system where I didn't have to work it in the spring," he said.

When nitrogen (N) deficiencies occur early and mid-season, corn leaves on the lower part of the plant begin to turn yellow prematurely starting from the leaf tip and progressing towards the stalk (Photo 1). Lower leaves will be affected first as N is mobile and will be reallocated to the upper leaves. The yellow color will turn brown followed by death of lower leaves, leading to a condition known as firing (Photo 2).

A move to strip-tilling corn with a homemade unit was an efficient path to consistent yields for Illinois farmer Charlie Durdan.

As corn planting gets off to a slow start in many areas one concern is whether we should think about switching hybrids. In general, the answer is no, not until later in May.

LaPorte City, Iowa, farmer Dean Fehl shares his 'keep it simple' strategy for developing a successful strip-till operation, which has contributed to a double-digit increase in corn yield and helped solve some of the challenges he faced no-tilling corn into soybean stubble.

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.

Some producers are taking advantage of frozen ground conditions to apply nitrogen to wheat fields or manure to corn fields.

Ricky Kratz, Slinger, Wis., strip-tiller, talks about his transition into strip-till. After several years of zone-tilling about 2,000 acres of corn with a three-coulter Rawson system, they found stress on the 12-row Kinze 2600 planter they were using was costing them time and yield potential.

Steve Duwe understands the anxiety that comes with heavy rains and the havoc they can wreak on fields in the fall. In 2008, extreme flooding pushed corn harvest back, and an early winter prevented him from doing any fall tillage.