In spring 2015, Jim Kucera's Ashland, Neb., farm had been deluged with heavy rains. The same was true for many Nebraska farmers faced with delayed planting, severe ponding and in some cases, replanting. Kucera certainly felt the pinch, but he says it's not nearly as bad as it would have been if he didn't switch to strip-till on his 700 acres of corn and 600 acres of soybeans about 5 years ago.

The Book family, who farms about 2,400 acres in Harvard and Union, Ill., make use of a variety of tillage methods. They no-till acreage 16 miles from their primary operation because the soils are sandy and the organic matter is only around 2%. On their corn-on-corn acres with heavy residue and sometimes close to 20% organic matter, they vertical till and chisel plow. However, they get their best results from the 600 acres of first-year corn that they strip-till.