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| http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/ia/home/?cid=nrcs142p2_011847 |
You will hear a lot of common themes when learning about soil health, last week I talked about cover crops which is one of those themes. This week I would like to dedicate my post to another common theme of soil health and that's no-till or minimum tillage. You will hear a lot about these systems, but it may be very unfamiliar so I want discuss the basics of no-till and how it differs from conventional tillage.
What exactly is tillage and why do we do it? Well tillage is simply the preparation of land for growing crops using a plow, chisel, disk etc. Tilling has been used for centuries to ensure that we have a proper seed bed when planting to allow the crop to grow with out being impeded. Tillage helps the roots grow by breaking up soil structure and allowing soil water and nutrients to become available to the roots. With all the benefits of tillage in recent years there has been an increase in the popularity of no-till or minimum tillage systems.
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| Disking Operation |
On major reason is because intensive tillage has been shown to cause major soil erosion. This is somewhat easy to understand. When we break up the soil and bring it to the surface we are allowing the soil to become more susceptible to elements such as wind and water. Which are major erosion causing forces. Tillage also takes a lot of time and with the large amounts of time it takes, that means it takes a lot of money in fuel, equipment and maintenance. We have also seen that extensive plowing causes a phenomena called plow pans. This is the compression of soil causing a layer in the soil that impedes water and nutrient movements. This causes increased surface runoff and decrease in nutrient infiltration, which is a major loss in money. So other options such as no-till and strip-till are becoming increasingly popular due to the soil health properties and less expenditures. So with that being said what is no-till and why is it used?
No till is a way of growing crops or pasture from year to year without disturbing the soil. This simply means that after harvest, one will plant directly into the past years residue instead of preparing a seed bed through tillage. No-till increases organic matter in the soil which is often destroyed during conventional tillage. With the increase in organic matter that therefore increases the soil tilth which therefore increases the amount of water that infiltrates in the soil. Soil tilth is the state of aggregation of a soil especially in relation to its suitability for crop growth as defined by Merriam-Webster Dictionary.http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tilth By not disturbing the soil the soil microbes are allowed to grow and flourish, which are often distorted by tillage. These microbes are essential in the soil as they provide beneficial nutrients to the crops. The easiest to understand benefit is the reduction of soil erosion. By keeping the soil covered it is protected from the elements such as wind and water. This is one of the main reasons it is implemented over conventional tillage. As discussed tillage promotes soil erosion and loss of essential organic matter. Organic matter is extremely important in soils and there is no true monetary value that you can put on this precious soil component. No-till in it's essence is promoting sustainability. We want to ensure that we have healthy land to farm many years into the future. By preserving our organic matter and promoting a diverse soil atmosphere we are therefore participating in sustainability.
This is really just a sentence of the book that could be written on the advantages of no-till. I suggest that you check out more blog and other website for more information. For more information here are a few links that may help you understanding more about the systems.
- http://extension.psu.edu/agronomy-guide/cm/sec1/sec11g
- http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/ia/home/?cid=nrcs142p2_011847
- http://cropwatch.unl.edu/tillage
- http://notill.okstate.edu/publications/notillcroppingsystemsoklahoma/chapter06.pdf
Also coming soon to the blog will be my first journey into no-till gardening!
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