Article: Surprise, No-till actually works...

I was pointed to this article today from a blog I read. I know it's old hat to everyone here but I'm encouraged to see that some main stream research is being done and is actually showing a positive result.

University of California

John Crawford wrote:I was pointed to this article today from a blog I read. I know it's old hat to everyone here but I'm encouraged to see that some main stream research is being done and is actually showing a positive result.

University of California

They are just now figuring this out? lol

Most of the farmers here do no till. Great until you realize they use even more chemicals than they did before.

Skye Ingram wrote:Most of the farmers here do no till. Great until you realize they use even more chemicals than they did before.

No till means an entirely different thing to BigAg than it does to us who do organic growing.
Most BigAg operations use huge amounts of glyphosphate (Roundup) to 'burn down' vegetation, versus tilling it under.
It is a faster/cheaper option to them. They are saving time/money, not the soil, nor environment.
Because "no till" sounds environmental/green, they really like to banty the expression around.

The only thing they are improving is their wallets.

I know, it's really sickening. And to hear a lot of people around here talk about how great it is that everyone has started adopting the no till procedures... They need to look at the whole picture. It's worse now than it was before! These farmers can't afford completely new machinery to completely change how they farm. So people need to think about how the new fancy machinery is supplied, and to what purpose. It's not to better the environment, it's for profit.

Specifically, the profits of Monsanto, who provide both the genetically modified seed - modified to withstand enormous amounts of RoundUp - and the RoundUp. A lot of people don't understand that most GMO crops are not modified to grow better or produce more, they are modified specifically to withstand huge doses of poison.

Our farmer neighbors have used no till for a long time. They plant 2 crops a year usually , alternating corn , soy , wheat and sometimes tobacco. When they harvest with a combine they throw all the stalk , cob , leaf , hulls etc . back onto the ground . After a corn harvest there is quite a bit of organic matter on top of the soil and the roots and lower stalk is left in the ground. Sounds like a recipe for good soil building , right ?. In the spring some of them disk lightly , some plant right into the ground without any till. I practice much the same idea with chop and drop and mulch in my orchard and garden. However my soil is turning to nice black humus after only 3 seasons. In the neighboring fields the soil is grey or reddish clay , the stalks and roots just sit without decay - there must be no beneficial microorganisms left at all after the routine bathing in glycophosphate , anydrous ammonia , and pesticide. In the spring the brown fields are covered in buttercup - pretty yellow flowers , soon to be dosed with agent orange. No till has a long way to go.

yeah...no till in small plot intensive agriculture, where the soil is maintained and built is a whole lot different than never turn the soil at all, and further destroy it by salting it...brilliant.


I probably till my gardens a bit too much at this point...but I have some nasty soil to contend with..it is getting better though. my main garden is getting hugel mounds to shelter it from the harshest winds and water running down hill to it..which used to saturate it so bad that it would dry to instant hardpan...I have finally got enough organic matter in it that the soil is not compacting itself quickly. hopefully next year, I will till twice and everything else will be done by hand.

as soon as these clowns next door get done killing the soil in the fields, I will offer dirt cheap dollars for a few acres then start un@#$%ing that soil.