Anytime you have fertilizer around metal, rust is going to be an issue. The way I see it, the planter we just bought should be around for as long as I care to farm.

In our case, we like a longer season variety. The index showed that with a starter, we'd likely get a yield boost in just one year out of eight. We figured we'd have a better chance of getting higher yields by focusing on getting our entire crop planted earlier.

Counting the time it took to stop and fill up the boxes, we were easily tying up five to six hours a day in labor. At $15/hour, you're talking $75-90/day. It's not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things. But why pay it if you don't have to?

You hear people saying starter will give you a yield benefit no matter how high your fertility. The question I kept coming back to was, 'How much of a bang am I really getting for my buck?' I absolutely hate to spend money when I don't need to.

The image that Milwaukee has as a 'Laverne & Shirley' town, as a Rust Belt city, is still a predominant issue.

It's better to burn out than it is to rust