The spring and summer seasons are a very busy period on farms and in farm country, specifically for those who grow crops and produce. When the risk of frost has passed and temperatures start to warm, farmers start preparing the ground for planting season. Arguably, the most important part is tilling. Tilling is the process of preparing soil for planting seed or cultivating the soil post-planting by tearing up existing biotics and manipulating soil structures. Why? To reduce competition and create optimal growing conditions of the commodity crop. How? By plowing or harrowing the fields these crops will be planted in.

 

Different Types of Tillage Systems

The pictures below are all images of fields being tilled, but the way the tilled fields look in these photos aren’t just different because they’re different brand tillers – they’re also different tillage systems.

The first image is a picture of a field being conventionally tilled with a three bottom moldboard plow. Conventional tillage involves using plows to manually cut up the entirety of the field to break up weed and past crop residues, whatever parts of the crop remain in the field after the last harvest, to create optimal conditions for a seeder or planter to sow the seed in the ground to grow into a crop.

Photo credit: vaderstad.com

This second photo is a field being tilled and planted with a no-till seed drill. No-till is unique because it combines tilling and planting. This is done by coulters cutting out soil only where the seed is sown, and then the loose soil matter is compacted back on top of the seed. What this means is that the vast majority of the biotic systems on the field being no-till’d and planted stay intact.

Photo credit: leelanaucd.org

Next, a disc till is an example of a way to implement a reduced tillage system. Reduced tillage means that greater than 15% of the existing crop residues are left after the field is tilled, but the residue levels are reduced to below 80%. Common examples of this are discs, chisel plows, and vertical tillers.

Photo credit: agrivi.com

Finally, strip tillage combines both conventional tillage and no tillage. Where the seeds are to be sown, the soil is conventionally tilled, but between the rows of growing crop, the soil and whatever is growing on it are left intact. The most common form of strip tillage is growing a commodity with hay in between the rows, as seen in the earlier strip tillage picture.

Photo credit: kuhn-usa.com

 

Why Use Different Tillage Systems?

Now, we’ll move onto why it’s important to understand why these different systems exist. Conventional tillage, as its name says, is the way fields have been tilled for millennia. Conventional tillage has its advantages:

  • faster seed germination
  • possible earlier planting season
  • better incorporation of soil amendments into the soil
  • cheaper equipment

However, conventional tillage has fallen very out of favor. This is because it leads to soil erosion, compacted soils, and higher rates of runoff. The reason this happens is because soil structures are broken up and previous crops’ residues are disturbed. Without proper soil structures, and in the absence of crop residue roots, the soil is vulnerable to water and air. This can cause eroded fields, flooded fields, poor crop yields, and degradation of the ecosystems around the field. An option for farmers to avoid these issues is to start tilling their field with a conservation tillage system.

Photo credit: cropwatch.unl.edu

While No-till, reduced till, and strip till are very different, any of the three are a viable route for continuing cropping without as severe of an erosion risk. Conservation tillage systems reduce this erosion risk because large portions of the field’s soil systems are left undisturbed, creating a strong surrounding support system for the seedbeds. Some other benefits are:

  • increased soil biodiversity and organic matter
  • reduced soil temperatures, making for a more drought-tolerant crop and less carbon dioxide released
  • decreased labor time
  • higher long-term crop yields

However, these tillage systems aren’t perfect, and there is debate over whether conservation-tilled fields require more herbicides. This is because, either, only where the seed is being planted or where the soil for the full rows is disturbed. These factors leave space for opportunistic weeds to outcompete the commodity. Additionally, conservation tillage equipment is specialized equipment and can be very expensive. Finally, it can take a couple growing seasons before yields meet and/or exceed yields from when the field was conventionally tilled. Changing tillage systems is something that is not done lightly.

Given the overwhelming environmental and commercial benefits conservation tillage systems present, financial assistance for new adopters of conservation tillage is abundantly available. As an Agriculture Projects Coordinator, a large part of my role is connecting farmers with needed funding to implement new practices. This funding can come from the federal government, state government(s), and private funds. At the federal level, Farm Bill programs like the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP), Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), and Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) provide a variety of ways to offset costs or reward farmers who are adopting conservation tillage.

Similar programs exist in every state within our Chesapeake watershed, with both levels of government funding being often-used sources.

The final level of funding is private conservation funds, through programs offered to farmers with the same mindset as governmental programs, to better the agricultural system and the environment. Conservation tillage works best, though, when it’s combined with other conservation and/or regenerative agriculture practices. Practices like cover cropping, “planting green”, installing riparian buffers, proper crop rotation, proper calculation and spreading of soil amendments (manure, fertilizer, nutrient supplements, pesticide).

Credit: ers.usda.gov

The adoption of conservation tillage is increasing year-after-year, with more farmers realizing the benefits that conservation tillage(combined with other practices) has for their operation. As a part of the Chesapeake agricultural industry, the Alliance takes pride in the work we’ve done to connect farmers with funding to start conservation tillage on their farm, and assist them with their other on-farm conservation needs.

If you’re interested in what the Alliance can do for you and your farm or learning more about our work, visit our agriculture page!