A National Winning Essay
THE BENEFITS OF NO-TILL FARMING
By Peter Wilson
THOUGH
ONLY 17 year of age, I consider myself an experienced farmer. I
have worked alongside my father on our familys farm since I was a
small child, learning the skills of agriculture and developing a
desire to make farming my own lifes work. Living on a farm that
has belonged to and supported our family for generations, I am
acutely aware of how drastically farming techniques have changed over
the years.
Our family has always been open to new ideas and advances in agriculture; we believe that is why our farm has been able to operate continuously for 125 years. Never more than today, however, has the need for efficient crop production been so pressing.
With farm profit margins alarmingly slim, the innovation of conservation tillage has proved to be invaluable. Our primary benefits from switching to no-till have been an increase in crop yields and a noticeable improvement in the well-being of our farm due to virtual elimination of erosion. A side benefit has been the excellent conditions created for wildlife.
At this point, our farm is producing cotton, corn, soybeans and a variety of grains, all of which are being no-tilled. Our transition from the traditional tillage methods has taken about 8 years. As we began experimenting with no-till, my maternal grandfather (a lifelong, full-time farmer) was extremely dubious and tried to discourage this new approach. He has become a believer, even stating that no-till would do as much for farming as had the progression in his youth from mules to tractors.
BIG SAVINGS
A desire for increased efficiency and productivity is the driving force behind our choice to employ no-till methods. A significant amount of money and time is saved by no-till since we need to invest in and maintain less equipment.
For instance, to prepare a field for planting by conventional means, we would need to plow it with a large, fuel-consuming tractor and work it at least three times. However, a field needs to be simply sprayed once with a herbicide before being no-tilled. The cost of the chemical and its application are certainly no more than the fuel and labor costs of plowing, and there is the bonus of less time and manpower required with no-till.
The introduction of no-till has allowed us to be more timely in our planting as we avoid having to wait for the ground to dry enough to be plowed. We are often able to put in a secondary crop behind the primary crop. For example, we were able last summer to quickly no-till double crop soybeans behind our wheat without losing the precious summer moisture. Double cropping allows us to get the maximum return from our land.
We are often able to put in a
secondary crop behind the primary crop.
Double cropping allows us to get the
maximum return from our land
Our yields have increased with all of our crops because our soils are more nutrient rich and have a better texture. A thick layer of mulch has developed. We attribute our improved production in part to the ability of the mulch to hold water for use by the growing plants. The plant matter acts as a blanket and traps moisture while preventing our strong Southern sun from shining directly on the soil.
We used to have a red or sandy surface on much
of our soil, but it is now quite dark from years of rotted plant
matter that is not disturbed by plowing. One certain indicator of
the changed health of our soil is the fact that we have gone from
practically no earthworms to an abundance of them working to aerate
and enrich our soil.
GAINING GROUND
One of the best conservation benefits of no-till for us is the elimination of erosion.
We had a 40-acre field that was very steep yet had extremely rich soil. We carefully designed and built numerous terraces, but the soil still washed away after hard rains. The creeks and pond below the field would be muddy for days.
We removed the terraces and planted crops in strips. That way, the entire field would never be plowed up at the same time. The strip cropping helped, but heavy rains would still wash any ground that had been recently plowed.
We finally began to no-till the field and our erosion problem was eliminated. The field is now one of our best; and we combined an excellent crop of soybeans from it last fall. The heavy mulch has protected the ground from washing and our creeks now run clear even after heavy rains. We have been pleased to notice a return of rabbits and quail to these fields, as well.\
No-till has enabled us to increase yields while reducing labor, fuel and equipment costs. Our soil is definitely in better condition and our environment is benefiting greatly.
No-till has been a solution for serious problems that many farmers, including my family, have faced. By making use of no-till and other developments yet to come in conservation tillage, I will be able to preserve my family farm and manage it successfully for years to come.
..
Peter Wilson, a senior a Chester High School where he is president of the FFA Chapter, was named the first place national winner in the No-Till Essay Competition sponsored by Phoenix Rotary Equipment, Ltd. The essay is reprinted here with permission from the NO-TILL FARMER magazine, a national authority on no-till farming since l972, who published his essay in their most recent issue. Peter was awarded a $2500 college scholarship by the Phoenix Rotary Equipment Ltd. He has been accepted to Clemson University where he plans to major in Agriculture and Applied Economics.
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Last Update: 05/02/2004
