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  • From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Livingontheland] No-Till: How Farmers Are Saving the Soil by Parking Their Plows
  • Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2008 21:20:21 -0600


*** from Scientific American magazine

June, 2008
No-Till: How Farmers Are Saving the Soil by Parking Their Plows

The age-old practice of turning the soil before planting a new crop is a
leading cause of farmland degradation. Many farmers are thus looking to make
plowing a thing of the past
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=no-till
By John P. Reganold and David R. Huggins


Key Concepts

* Conventional plow-based farming leaves soil vulnerable to erosion and
promotes agricultural runoff.
* Growers in some parts of the world are thus turning to a sustainable
approach known as no-till that minimizes soil disturbance.
* High equipment costs and a steep learning curve, among other factors,
are hindering widespread adoption of no-till practices.

John Aeschliman turns over a shovelful of topsoil on his 4,000-acre farm in
the Palouse region of eastern Washington State. The black earth crumbles
easily, revealing a porous structure and an abundance of organic matter that
facilitate root growth. Loads of earthworms are visible, too—another healthy
sign.

Thirty-four years ago only a few earthworms, if any, could be found in a
spadeful of his soil. Back then, Aeschliman would plow the fields before each
planting, burying the residues from the previous crop and readying the ground
for the next one. The hilly Palouse region had been farmed that way for
decades. But the tillage was taking a toll on the Palouse, and its famously
fertile soil was eroding at an alarming rate. Convinced that there had to be
a better way to work the land, Aeschliman decided to experiment in 1974 with
an emerging method known as no-till farming.

entire article online for paid subscribers






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