Has No-Till Become Popular Enough to Be Called “Conventional?”

In a blog post in Organic Life Style Magazine, the author provoked lots of discussion based on this comment:

While conventional farming typically depletes soil organic matter, organic farming builds it through the use of composted animal manures and cover crops.

One of the responders, Matthew, replied:

There is another form of conventional farming, and that is no-till farming. This type of farming requires no tillage whats so ever, therefore reducing the number of times a tractor needs to go over a field, and helping to reduce the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere by the soil, and greatly reducing the loss of soil erosion. How ever this can cause problems for farmers as well. No-till can work very well in a sandy loam soil, for there is less compaction issues, but using no-till on clay-loam soil, would greatly reduce yield becuase of compaction issues. There is also weed issues because the weeds are not up rooted, and so there are more weed issues to deal with, which can cause more pesticides to be used.

Here is our response to both:

Matthew points out that no-till farming is “conventional.” It may be conventional, though it is not widely used in large scale farming operations.

But that’s changing. Many thousands of farmers every year are reducing or eliminating tillage, in favor of no-till. Many of them are also discovering the value of cover crops.

Some cover crops, like annual ryegrass, require an herbicide application in the spring, before planting. Thus, use of herbicide (glyphosates, like Round Up) would preclude its being considered organic, I guess.

However, a successful cover crop will add organic matter, reduce erosion and eliminate compaction. In fact, annual ryegrass roots will grow to 60 or more inches deep, penetrating ALL compaction, and allowing the next year of crop roots to follow those macro-channels.

Cover crops reduce the weed population because weeds won’t compete well with a healthy cover crop.

Cover crops, as Matthew pointed out, also reduce the expense for fuel and fertilizer, since you reduce the number of passes over the field by heavy equipment. And with the extra vegetative matter being planted, you’re certainly boosting the carbon quantity in the soil.

Tags: Annual ryegrass, annual ryegrass as a cover crop, crop yield, deep rooting, erosion control, glyphosate, macropores, nitrogen-friendly cover crop help reduce the cost for fertilizer., No-Till, No-Till corn and soybean, soil compaction, water infiltration