Healthy soil and sustainable growing

[Dieter Brand <diebrand@yahoo.com>]

Tony,

 

You wrote:

> How does no-till relieve soil compaction?

 

This is the subject of some debate and probably depends in part

on type of soil (clay, sandy, etc.) climate (cold, hot, dry, wet),

soil management practices and type of cropping.

 

My experience is that a clay soil in a semi-arid climate (here in

Portugal) will definitely become compacted as a result of ploughing

because:

- the thin layer of topsoil is buried underground and the pure clay

from the subsoil will dry rapidly and crack at the soil surface,

- the organic soil web (roots, fungi, bacteria, small creatures, etc.)

that gives structure to the clay soil is destroyed in regular intervals

and never has a chance to fully recover between two ploughings,

- pores, small spaces between soil particles, are lost and the air

or gas in the soil is released into the atmosphere,

- without the soil pores and the organic web, the fine clay particles

will compact together and form a solid mass with the consistency

of reinforced concrete,

- due to the regular ploughing, an aerobic topsoil of humus and

organic matter, that would protect and enrich the clay, can never

build up.

 

I have been able to observe this at first hand by comparing my

own fields with those of my neighbour for the last 10 years.

My experience is also that to simply stop ploughing is not

always enough to improve soil structure of a field that has been

ploughed for many years. A soil management, which in my

case needs to include deep-rooted woody perennials to loosen

the soil, may be necessary.

 

Farmers plough to loosen the soil; however, the effect is only of

short duration. The first heavy rain will start compacting the soil

until it is harder than before.

 

> I have been told, that at some point in the soils life, it must be plowed.

 

The point with no-till is that you return all organic matter to the soil surface

in order to form a dark humus-rich topsoil that will enrich and protect the

soil below. The longer you practice no-till the thicker and richer this topsoil

will become. Ploughing only once will destroy this accumulated layer of

aerobic humus and organic matter and burry it underground under anaerobic

conditions where organic matter may even form toxic substance since it

cannot decompose as it would at the surface under aerobic conditions.

In other words, the aerobic humus is lost underground while the anaerobic

subsoil is exposed to the air where nutrients and anaerobic microbes

oxidize in contact with the air which translates into a loss of soil fertility.

 

I cannot speak for different soil and climate conditions, but in regard to

my case, people recommending ploughing once in a while don't understand

no-till.

 

> Or am I missing something, like chisel plowing??

 

Subsoiling and chisel ploughing are used in conventional cultivation for

loosening compacted soil, I don't know if they are used by no-till farmers.

 

Dieter Brand

Portugal

Tony Marzolino <tmarzolino@yahoo.com> wrote:

Hello Dieter,

How does no-till relieve soil compaction?  I have been told, that at some point in the soils life, it must be plowed.  Or am I missing something, like chisel plowing??

 

Thanks,

Tony Marzolino

Dieter Brand <diebrand@yahoo.com> wrote:

Rhoda,

 

The answer will depend on what you mean by no-till:

 

A) mulched gardening à la Ruth Stout,

B) no-till farming with herbicide-killed cover crops, or

C) organic no-till farming with mechanically killed cover

crops.

 

A) and B) will work everywhere.  C) will work only if

your climate allows continued coverage by cover crop

and/or cash crop during the entire growing season.

Any interruption in your cropping schedule, like during

a dry season, will allow the weeds to come back, and

you have to start from zero.

 

Dieter Brand

Portugal

Rhoda Skavroneck <rhodaf@gate.net> wrote:

Hi,

I live in Central Florida. Do you know if No Till is good here?

Thanks

Rhoda

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