Soil samples were collected at the beginning and end of conservation tillage cotton experiments conducted at the University of Arizona Marana and Maricopa Agricultural Centers in Arizona in 2001 to 2004. They were analyzed for nitrogen, organic carbon, soluble salts, NO3-N, NH4-N, and pH. There were no differences in most of the soil properties measured at the beginning an the end of the experiments at Marana and Maricopa. In another experiment, a John Deere 1590 grain drill, designed to broadcast plant grain on a 7.5-in spacing on the flat or on nearly level ground, was modified to plant only the drill lines on the top and shoulders of stale cotton beds and not in the furrows. The rear wheels of the drill were also modified to obtain consistent tracking instead of the wheels “wandering” in and out of furrows, so as to plant only on beds. The configured drill was used to plant small rain crops in a cotton-centered conservation tillage experiment at the Maricopa Agricultural Center (MAC) in 2003 and 2004; it was compared with planting on the flat and on beds and furrows. It was also compared with planting with a conventional grain drill on four commercial farms. Comparable grain yields were obtained between planting with the modified and the conventional grain drills on the commercial farms. At MAC, Poco barley planted on the flat or Barcott barley planted on beds out-yielded Solum barley planted in the previous years. In a straw management experiment at MAC, beardless barley or Cayuse oats were green-chopped prior to planting conventional tillage cotton. Solum barley grain crops were harvested at different straw heights (low, medium or high) before conventional tillage cotton planting; in one treatment, Solum barley was harvested at a low height and the straw baled before planting cotton. Small grain straw management did not affect the growth and yield of the succeeding cotton in both 2003 and 2004.