By Sharon Omahen


University of Georgia

When people think of farming, images of freshly plowed fields
often come to mind. But that picture is changing. More farmers
are learning that starting with a clean slate may not be the best
way to farm.

Using conservation tillage systems, farmers don’t plow their
fields. This saves them labor and fuel, adds nutrients to the
soil and reduces erosion and runoff.

“Today, more and more farmers are looking for ways to build up
their soil,” said Julia Gaskin, a land application specialist
with the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and
Environmental Sciences. “Not plowing or harrowing the soil is
just one way.”

Gaskin works with U.S. Department of Agriculture counterparts and
the Georgia Conservation Tillage Alliance to educate farmers
statewide on the benefits of conservation tillage systems.

Holds soil in place

Conservation tillage systems encourage farmers to follow a main
crop with a cover crop. “Cover crops hold the soil in place and
provide organic matter,” Gaskin said. The next crop is planted
into the cover crop’s debris. Gaskin says this reduces soil
crusting, allowing more water to soak into the soil rather than
running across it.

“As a result, the soil can hold more water,” Gaskin said. “And
holds it in the root zone. Research conducted at UGA and the USDA
Agricultural Research Service has shown, this water-holding power
can mean the difference in getting a crop through the common
small summer droughts.”

Conservation tillage is helping improve farming’s image, too, she
said.

“Agriculture is often viewed as a polluter, so it’s important for
people to realize that farmers are working to improve the
environment,” she said. “When farmers use conservation tillage
systems, they plant more efficiently, there’s less erosion and
(fewer) pollutants.”

The USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service has shown that if
a farmer plants cotton conventionally in loamy sand on a
5-percent slope, he could lose as much as 13 tons of soil per acre
per year to erosion.

Benefits streams, too

“In the Piedmont, that amount would be a lot higher,” said NRCS
state agronomist Jimmy Dean. “By leaving just 70 percent of the
soil covered with crop residue on the field, a farmer can
literally prevent tons of soil from running off into a stream.”

That’s good for their fields and the streams. “There’s no
question this can be a big benefit to our state’s water quality,”
he said.

“Most farmers think they can’t build up a field while they’re
farming it,” Dean said. “We let them know that you can increase
the soil’s organic matter and improve (its structure) by not
tilling the soil.”

The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service reports that 28
percent of the row crops in Georgia are grown using conservation
tillage. That includes 31 percent of the cotton, 50 percent of
the soybeans and 33 percent of the corn.

“UGA research has shown that increasing soil organic matter
creates a soil with more beneficial predators,” Gaskin said.
“These can help control the pests, because there’s a natural
system of checks and balances.”

But for all its soil and environmental benefits, conservation
tillage is catching on for other reasons.

Reduces fuel, labor costs and helps quail

“Farmers are reducing their fuel costs because they’re making
fewer passes over the field,” Gaskin said. “Their irrigation
costs are down because the soil holds more water. And their
crops’ yields are up.”

Conservation tillage systems are also a useful tool for
increasing wildlife populations.

“We’re losing 3 percent of our quail population each year,” said
Dean. “We are learning that we can reverse this trend by using
conservation tillage. It gives them (quail) places to nest and
provides food and cover.”

Dean says, in a plowed field, it takes a quail chick 24 hours to
find enough food for a day. In a conservation tillage field,
that same quail chick get its daily food intake in just 4 hours.

Yet another bonus is an increase in family time.

“When a farmer spends less time on a tractor, he can spend more
quality time with his family,” Gaskin said. “There’s time to take
his son fishing or go to his daughter’s ball game.”

According to the NRCS, Georgia has more no-till cotton and peanut
production than any other state. This is credited to the efforts
of 6 conservation tillage alliances.