As planting season gets into full swing, no-till planting takes the cake when it comes to time efficiency, precision planting, significantly reducing erosion, and reducing fuel usage and moisture retention.

Minimum and no-till planting methods also have been described as conservation tillage and were regarded as the pinnacle in erosion reduction and environmental benefit. The key word being “were.”

Yes, from an agency standpoint no-till is the best way to plant crops in a soil saving manner compared to tillage operations. For too long, however, NRCS and farmers have hung their respective hats on the notion that if you were no-tilling you were a top-tier farmer.

I contend being a no-tiller is simply being an efficient farmer; you’re efficient on fuel usage, efficient on reducing soil disturbance and efficient on timely planting.

The conservation benefit of no-till is great compared to tillage operations; however, compared to farmers who use no-till as a tool as part of a much larger system, the benefit isn’t that significant.

This article isn’t meant to disparage no-till; it’s meant to open our eyes to the bigger picture of conservation systems. Most farmers, nearly all of them, will say conservation is a top priority to them. Conserving their resources is critical in making their operation successful and that’s thanks to various agencies, including ours, with emphasis on reducing soil erosion as a way of preserving farming operations.

Unfortunately, we have done a disservice to farmers in leading them to believe minimal erosion was the be-all end-all.

We even tout and promote crop rotations as a way to break up pest cycles, improve soil quality and help wildlife but what is a crop rotation? Corn and beans? Corn, beans, wheat? Two years of corn, small grain and hay?

While these are all technically rotating crops, a true crop rotation is staggered and purposeful in nature to actually break up pest populations and improve soil health.

We as humans are systematic and Mother Nature is catching on. In many mid-west states where corn and soybean “rotations” are common, we as are actually selecting for pests that are based on our crop rotation; the whole reason we alternated crops.

Corn pests are either overwintering in soybean fields or going through extended diapause so they can feed on corn as they hatch.

This is just one example. I could write a whole article on how our farming practices are selecting pests we tried to eliminate. So what can we do?

And when I say we, I mean starting with NRCS educating farmers there’s a better way and providing those with the tools they can use to make operation not only successful but moving to the next level.

No-till planting has been widely adopted since the mid-1970s, so are we satisfied with 1970s technology in 2016?

Since 21st century technology is diversified crop rotations, where you are significantly changing the rotation to break up pest patterns and improve soil health; those aspirations should be our goal.

n Shortening commodity growing seasons for the sole purpose of having a cover crop planted and adding long season covers into the rotation.

n Reducing or nearly eliminating neonicotinoids and herbicides to promote nature predation on common crop pests.

Think it can’t be done, or only on small scale, and not around here in our climate and growing season? It’s being done effectively in North Dakota and Brazil and other areas where the benefits are being recognized and have been for quite some time.

In North Dakota, it’s being done on dryland corn, which means about 17 inches of rain. For reference, we had 42 inches of precipitation in 2015, 12 inches of which fell from July through September when it was deemed to be “dry.” Using diverse cover crop mixes as part of a diverse crop rotation, they can average about 150 bu for corn with no nitrogen added; all this on soil that has only 5 ppm phosphorus.

Penn State deems 30 ppm and below to be crop limiting and yield suffering. Brazil, who is about 30 years ahead of the U.S. in cover crops adoption, found long ago their climate caused rapid declining soil health.

Tillage operations and little crop residue and root structure quickly burned through the once abundant soil organic matter.

While no-till slowed the process, organic matter was still being lost which in turn reduced yields and decreased drought protection. Only after adding diverse cover crop mixes did yields began to increase with lower input costs.

The U.S. is in a similar projection where yields are stagnant or only slightly increasing, the reason being we have primarily exhausted the once abundant organic matter that made up most of our crop belt fields.

Now is the time to get your farm back on the right track and being more profitable. If you’d like to learn more about cover crops and how they can improve your operation, feel free to contact our office.

Andy Gaver is a conservationist with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service in Butler County.