To Till or Not to Till, That is the Question
During our weekly conference call, several of our County agronomy educators mentioned that farmers in their area were busy plowing their fields. I hope it is not a widespread phenomenon because it would mean a major setback for Pennsylvania agriculture, in my opinion. I started my work as Soil Management Specialist at Penn State in 2000 when no-tillage was only used on 20% of the planted acres. At that time, I wrote an article in Field Crop News with the above title, and the message still rings true today. Here is what I wrote 25 years ago:
"No-till farmers are a little challenged at this time of the year with increased slug problems and slow growth of their crops compared to their tilling neighbors. At this time, it is especially important to take the telescopic instead of the microscopic view.
A long-term study at different sites in Ohio showed that no-till continuous corn and soybean (in a corn-soybean rotation) consistently out-yielded plow-tilled crops on a well-drained Wooster silt loam in Wooster, north-east Ohio, from 1963 to 1987. Corn gave similar yields under both tillage regimes on a somewhat poorly drained Crosby silt loam in South Charleston in central Ohio during those years. On a poorly drained Hoytville silty clay loam in Hoytville, north-west Ohio, no-till corn and soybean produced significantly less during the first 20 years of the experiment, but produced similar yields from 1980 to 1987.
Reasons for the improved no-till yields over time in the poorly drained soil include:
Reasons for the Improved No-Till Yields over Time in the Poorly Drained Soil Include:
1) The hotter and drier climate during the 1980s gave no-till crops an advantage because of moisture conservation.
2) Soil conditions improved over time under no-till.
3) Phytophtora-resistant/tolerant soybean improved yields in no-till fields.
4) A larger and more diverse soil biological community developed in the no-till plots, providing a means of plant-disease control, and a more sustained nutrient availability from organic matter mineralization throughout the growing season.
5) Better no-till weed control management options. The results of these studies are similar to our Pennsylvania experience.
At the Agronomy farm in Centre County, we have found essentially no yield differences in continuous corn between no-till and plow till over the past 25 years. This year, the initial no-till stands were better than the plowed stands where seeds did not germinate in the dry surface soil. Some of our long-term no-till farmers also tell us they see yields improve over time. I hope these results stimulate you to continue your no-till experiment and not to back-out when you have just recently started no-tilling"
That is what I wrote then. Many Pennsylvania farmers subsequently made the switch to no-till such that today no-till is used on almost 70% of our planted acres.
Some think no-till is only for mega farms, but we know differently: even our Amish farmers use no-till with horse-pulled equipment. No-till is used by grain and forage producers alike. In fact, no-till has led to innovation on our dairy and beef farms, helping to grow two forage crops a year instead of one. This enables them to produce more of their forage on the farm and reduces the need to purchase grain produced in the Midwest or in South America, while making better use of nutrients in manure.
The adoption of no-till has stimulated the use of cover crops, which are now used on approximately 40% of our annual crop acres. The adoption of no-till has therefore had major benefits for producers, but it also has tremendous benefits for the environment. No-till systems with high soil cover have very low soil erosion potential and higher water infiltration. Therefore, our streams run cleaner and our groundwater is recharged. Further, soil biological activity improves with a reduction in tillage.
Altogether, no-till has had major benefits for farm profitability and environmental performance. Let us not forget the benefits of no-till.
