Rick Morgan, the 2015 High Cotton Winner for the Southeast, is a big advocate for no-till farming. He started 100 percent no-till 10 years ago when he got out of peanuts.

Morgan says no-till provides benefits from both a yield perspective and a conservation perspective. No-till improves soil quality, decreases erosion and reduces moisture loss. It allows Morgan  to burn less fuel, use less equipment and smaller tractors and get his fields planted in less time.

But for Morgan, the bottom line benefit of 100 percent no till is water conversation.

“When you keep your water from running off your field, you also keep your nutrients from running off and you keep your nitrogen where it’s supposed to be. No-till helps us do that so it’s a win-win for everybody.”

Morgan says no-till is a real plus for his non-irrigated land in Corapeake, N.C., just south of the Virginia border.