ST. LOUIS, Mo. — More than 900 attendees at the National No-Tillage Conference, held here Jan. 11-14, dug deep into topics such as soil health, cover crops, new equipment and weed resistance.

“We have to be in relentless pursuit of soil health,” said Barry Fisher, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) state agronomist for Indiana. Conservation cropping systems that include no-till, said Fisher and others, can provide economic benefits, reduce nutrient losses and increase soil organic matter and productivity.

Ray Archuleta, NRCS soils specialist from Greensboro, N.C., kicked off Thursday morning’s general session with a call to no-tillers to focus on soil functionality.

He advocated understanding the ecosystem of the soil, presenting information illustrating how profits can increase and risk decrease with better soil functionality.

Using cover crops to improve soil health and production efficiency within no-till cropping systems was at the forefront of many presentations and discussions this year.

Mike Plumer, a former University of Illinois agronomist, encouraged attendees to use cover crops to improve soil organic matter and nutrient capture. Good cover crop management, like properly inoculating hairy vetch to increase spring nitrogen fixation, is key to reaping economic and environmental benefits from cover crops, Plumer said.

No-tillers at the conference also reviewed new equipment designs and upgrades. University of Kentucky agronomist Lloyd Murdock said ongoing research with the GreenSeeker optical sensing system for nitrogen application in Kentucky no-till wheat showed potential increases in profitability of $19 per acre in 2011.

Managing glyphosate-resistant weeds was another popular area of discussion. Bryan Young, Southern Illinois University weed scientist, summarized many emerging options for weed control of glyphosate-resistant marestail and waterhemp in the Midwest. Young cautioned producers using this year’s improved products to be sure to integrate different product strategies.

“All these (new products and strategies) are not going to be as effective as glyphosate once was in terms of foliar control,” he said.

Retired Purdue University agronomist Don Huber presented his views on the effects of glyphosate at Thursday afternoon’s general session, prompting responses from other speakers and instigating numerous hallway conversations among conference-goers.

This year’s conference was the 20th annual event hosted by No Till Farmer magazine.