Spring I On It's Way

Springtime might finally be here in North Central Ohio.  The weather on Sunday was something we all needed to remind us that it isn't going to be winter forever.  With spring in the air, comes all the hustle and bustle of the spring planting season.
To each of us agriculturalists we view spring just a little different.  To me, that means getting the tractors hooked to tillage equipment and start turning dirt.  Now you can't tell me that, that isn't the best smell in the world, fresh turned dirt!  We work the ground on our farm as not only a way to prepare the seed bed, cause we all know seed to soil contact is a must, but as a way to kill those winter perennial weeds that seem to grow during the colder months.  This also allows us to use less herbicides, which in turn is much better for our environment.
Some might not like the way we do things in a commercial operation, but that's the way we do things.  To each their own and whatever works for you might not work for the next guy.  I say this because I sat down at a very informal meeting with a couple people that are organic producers.  To me quizzing each other back and forth was great.  Explaining why I do this, and why that won't work for me, also learning to hold my tongue and letting others speak was very important.
For me to do what I want to do as an Agvocate, I need to be able to listen to others and hear their opinions without getting defensive or even bashing the other guy.  Because the way I see it, we as agriculturalists need to band together no matter what sector of agriculture, or what type of operation we have.  If we don't band together and learn to speak for each other, in the long run, someone is going to be doing the speaking for ALL of us, and we won't be able to do things the way that they need to be done.
Back to where I was with the tillage...Tillage is a great tool to use to cut down on weed population, but here lately the use of tillage has taken a step back, this is because no-till systems are now in place.  We run both till and no-till on our farm.  Here is just a quick link to follow that explains a no-till cropping system vs. the conventional cropping system that you might be familiar with...
http://extension.missouri.edu/publications/DisplayPub.aspx?P=G4080