He was not impressed. Yarborough made sure that Cheeks saw demonstrations of how to use no-till equipment and how to check sprayer tips correctly. He advised him on the critical aspects of fertilization. He now raises about 550 acres of row crops with additional acreage devoted to alfalfa, grass and cattle. He claims he could only manage about half this acreage if he were still using conventional tillage.
Conventional tillage requires about five trips through the field.
With no-till, I go through the field once to plant and maybe two more times if I need to spray. With no-till, the placement of fertilizer and the timing of the application are critical. However, a good agricultural advisor can guide farmers through these complexities. Yarborough now advises Cheeks regularly on soil testing, fertilization, liming, and crop rotation. This year Glen is renting an additional 140 acres in Cherokee County and managing them on his own.