Charles I. Batchelor No-till wheat works best behind soybeans, and some producers have successfully followed peanuts and cotton with the practice, Brann reports. Corn, however, could be associated with disease problems. He expects scab to be a problem in at least one year out of five. In five, maybe ten years, maybe we'll have the varieties where no-till small grains will be common. No-till wheat yields were 88 bushels per acre, and conventional yields were 93 bushels.
Residue cover is part of it.
But we also see changes in the soil. Small-grain production could be more efficient if barley is part of the crop mix. Barley is planted earlier and comes off a week earlier than wheat. Yields can be higher than 100 bushels per acre. Cheap as it is, barley isn't often used as a feedstuff because it has too much fiber in the grain head.