The soil is disturbed prior to planting. Tillage tools such as chisels, field cultivators, discs, sweeps or blades are used. In Indiana, 1.1 million acres were planted using the mulch-till system. The soil is left undisturbed from harvest to planting except for nutrient injection. Planting is completed in a seedbed prepared on ridges with sweeps, disc openers, coulters, or row cleaners.
Residue is left on the surface between ridges.
Ridges are rebuilt during cultivation. Indiana's three international ports link the state to both domestic and world markets. These ports are crucial links in moving products and cargo to markets hundreds or thousands of miles away. Recently, the Indiana Port Commission attracted two agribusinesses to their ports. Last summer, ConAgra, Inc. announced that ConAgra and Processing Companies would build a fully integrated soybean crushing, refining and packaging complex in Mount Vernon along the Ohio river.