{"id":68901,"date":"2019-10-28T07:00:02","date_gmt":"2019-10-28T11:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/?p=68901"},"modified":"2019-10-23T13:24:46","modified_gmt":"2019-10-23T17:24:46","slug":"the-elusive-goal-of-no-till-organic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2019\/10\/the-elusive-goal-of-no-till-organic\/","title":{"rendered":"The Elusive Goal of No-Till Organic"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tilling is as synonymous with farming and gardening as compost and muddy boots. It\u2019s used to eliminate weeds and break up hard soil so that tender seedlings may grow. So, it may come as a surprise that growers are abandoning the plow in droves.<\/p>\n

<\/span>About one in five agricultural acres in America is now maintained without annual tillage. The reasons are many, and some are purely financial. Plowing from fenceline to fenceline costs farmers time and money, and heavily tilled soil often requires more fertilizer. Environmentalists like the idea of less tractor fuel and fertilizer use, and they also recognize that tilling destroys natural soil structure and makes farmland more susceptible to erosion. It is the primary culprit behind the loss of topsoil, which has become a global crisis. Tilling also releases soil-bound carbon compounds into the atmosphere, helping to make agriculture a major contributor to global warming.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Given these facts, one would think organic farmers would be first in line to give up their plows. But it\u2019s not so.<\/p>\n

<\/span>The reason, explains Jeff Moyer, executive director of the Rodale Institute, is that organic farmers are reliant on tillage to control weeds, while conventional producers have the option of using herbicides (the advent of herbicide-tolerant GMO crops has allowed no-till to be adopted on a large scale). Moyer has worked at Rodale, a research center in Pennsylvania, since the organic farming movement was still in its infancy and he says it is essential that chemical-free agriculture lose its tillage habit if it is going to scale up to feed the world. \u201cWhen I began working in organic agriculture in the seventies, much of our research on weed management focused on tillage,\u201d he says, even though \u201cwe understood as soil scientists that tillage is not necessarily a good thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/span>Used sparingly, tillage is a fairly benign tool, he adds, but \u201covertilling, which many organic farmers are trapped in, is unwise\u2014if you’re an earthworm, tillage day is not a good day.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/span>In the 1990s, Moyer and his colleagues at Rodale began working on a solution to the no-till organic conundrum. Organic farmers have long grown off-season \u201ccover crops\u201d\u2014species that help replenish the soil without fertilizers. Traditionally, these would be cut and then tilled into the earth in preparation for planting. But Moyer wondered if there was a way to use the cover crop residue as a weed-suppressing mulch, just as gardeners often spread straw around their crops to keep weeds from germinating. In order to do so, he invented a tractor implement called a roller-crimper, which flattens the stalks onto the ground and roughs up the stems so they don\u2019t resprout.<\/p>\n

<\/span>After flattening the cover crop, it\u2019s possible for organic farmers to employ the specialized no-till planting equipment used by conventional growers to place seeds and transplants into the decaying crop residue. As that residue decomposes, it enhances soil structure, keeping the earth loose and fertile\u2014and making tillage even less necessary.<\/p>\n

<\/span>\u201cEverybody said it was impossible to grow crops organically without using tillage,\u201d says Moyer.<\/p>\n

<\/span>He proved the world wrong, but even though it\u2019s possible, it\u2019s still not easy. The next steps for making organic no-till methods more widely adopted, he says, are advancements in the art and science of cover crops. No-till organic methods don\u2019t work perfectly in every region with every crop\u2014the variety of cover crop and how it is managed have to be perfectly tuned to the context. Right now, there are only a few types of cover crops in widespread use, and many farmers lack the experience in how to use them in a no-till system. This is slowly changing, says Moyer.<\/p>\n

<\/span>In the interim, he\u2019s working to help the organic farmers who do employ no-till methods to gain greater recognition for their efforts and, perhaps, a price premium for their products. Rodale has recently completed the pilot stage for Regenerative Organic Certified, a new label that he hopes will be found on grocery store shelves soon. \u201cWe’re hoping that the first farms will get through the certification process by the end of next summer,\u201d says Moyer.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tilling is as synonymous with farming and gardening as compost and muddy boots. It\u2019s used to eliminate weeds and break up hard soil so that tender seedlings may grow. So, it may come as a surprise that growers are abandoning the plow in droves. About one in five agricultural acres in America is now maintained […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":215,"featured_media":68902,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":[],"meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33067],"tags":[33085,33079],"article-theme":[],"class_list":["post-68901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-farm","tag-ecosystem","tag-plants-crops"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Elusive Goal of No-Till Organic - Modern Farmer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Tilling is as synonymous with farming and gardening as compost and muddy boots. It\u2019s used to eliminate weeds and break up hard soil so that tender\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2019\/10\/the-elusive-goal-of-no-till-organic\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Elusive Goal of No-Till Organic - Modern Farmer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Tilling is as synonymous with farming and gardening as compost and muddy boots. It\u2019s used to eliminate weeds and break up hard soil so that tender\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2019\/10\/the-elusive-goal-of-no-till-organic\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Modern Farmer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ModernFarmerMedia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-10-28T11:00:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/sXkic2qw.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1065\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Brian Barth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ModFarm\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ModFarm\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Brian Barth\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2019\/10\/the-elusive-goal-of-no-till-organic\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2019\/10\/the-elusive-goal-of-no-till-organic\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Brian Barth\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f9bfc85fe7b14a386330346f1854c8c3\"},\"headline\":\"The Elusive Goal of No-Till Organic\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-10-28T11:00:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2019\/10\/the-elusive-goal-of-no-till-organic\/\"},\"wordCount\":699,\"commentCount\":27,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2019\/10\/the-elusive-goal-of-no-till-organic\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/sXkic2qw.jpeg\",\"keywords\":[\"Ecosystem\",\"Plants & Crops\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Farm\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2019\/10\/the-elusive-goal-of-no-till-organic\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2019\/10\/the-elusive-goal-of-no-till-organic\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2019\/10\/the-elusive-goal-of-no-till-organic\/\",\"name\":\"The Elusive Goal of No-Till Organic - Modern Farmer\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2019\/10\/the-elusive-goal-of-no-till-organic\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2019\/10\/the-elusive-goal-of-no-till-organic\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/sXkic2qw.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-10-28T11:00:02+00:00\",\"description\":\"Tilling is as synonymous with farming and gardening as compost and muddy boots. It\u2019s used to eliminate weeds and break up hard soil so that tender\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2019\/10\/the-elusive-goal-of-no-till-organic\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2019\/10\/the-elusive-goal-of-no-till-organic\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2019\/10\/the-elusive-goal-of-no-till-organic\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/sXkic2qw.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/sXkic2qw.jpeg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":852},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2019\/10\/the-elusive-goal-of-no-till-organic\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Farm\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/category\/farm\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"The Elusive Goal of No-Till Organic\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/\",\"name\":\"Modern Farmer\",\"description\":\"Farm. Food. Life.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Modern Farmer\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/logo-color-black.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/logo-color-black.svg\",\"width\":1,\"height\":1,\"caption\":\"Modern Farmer\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ModernFarmerMedia\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/ModFarm\",\"https:\/\/instagram.com\/modfarm\/\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/modfarm\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f9bfc85fe7b14a386330346f1854c8c3\",\"name\":\"Brian Barth\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8b1627d6bf581e517584e7115a28d141?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8b1627d6bf581e517584e7115a28d141?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Brian Barth\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/author\/brian-barth\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Elusive Goal of No-Till Organic - Modern Farmer","description":"Tilling is as synonymous with farming and gardening as compost and muddy boots. It\u2019s used to eliminate weeds and break up hard soil so that tender","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2019\/10\/the-elusive-goal-of-no-till-organic\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Elusive Goal of No-Till Organic - Modern Farmer","og_description":"Tilling is as synonymous with farming and gardening as compost and muddy boots. It\u2019s used to eliminate weeds and break up hard soil so that tender","og_url":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2019\/10\/the-elusive-goal-of-no-till-organic\/","og_site_name":"Modern Farmer","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ModernFarmerMedia","article_published_time":"2019-10-28T11:00:02+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1600,"height":1065,"url":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/sXkic2qw.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Brian Barth","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ModFarm","twitter_site":"@ModFarm","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Brian Barth","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2019\/10\/the-elusive-goal-of-no-till-organic\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2019\/10\/the-elusive-goal-of-no-till-organic\/"},"author":{"name":"Brian Barth","@id":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f9bfc85fe7b14a386330346f1854c8c3"},"headline":"The Elusive Goal of No-Till Organic","datePublished":"2019-10-28T11:00:02+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2019\/10\/the-elusive-goal-of-no-till-organic\/"},"wordCount":699,"commentCount":27,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2019\/10\/the-elusive-goal-of-no-till-organic\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/sXkic2qw.jpeg","keywords":["Ecosystem","Plants & Crops"],"articleSection":["Farm"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2019\/10\/the-elusive-goal-of-no-till-organic\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2019\/10\/the-elusive-goal-of-no-till-organic\/","url":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2019\/10\/the-elusive-goal-of-no-till-organic\/","name":"The Elusive Goal of No-Till Organic - Modern Farmer","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2019\/10\/the-elusive-goal-of-no-till-organic\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2019\/10\/the-elusive-goal-of-no-till-organic\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/sXkic2qw.jpeg","datePublished":"2019-10-28T11:00:02+00:00","description":"Tilling is as synonymous with farming and gardening as compost and muddy boots. It\u2019s used to eliminate weeds and break up hard soil so that tender","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2019\/10\/the-elusive-goal-of-no-till-organic\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2019\/10\/the-elusive-goal-of-no-till-organic\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2019\/10\/the-elusive-goal-of-no-till-organic\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/sXkic2qw.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/sXkic2qw.jpeg","width":1280,"height":852},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2019\/10\/the-elusive-goal-of-no-till-organic\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Farm","item":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/category\/farm\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"The Elusive Goal of No-Till Organic"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/","name":"Modern Farmer","description":"Farm. Food. Life.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/#organization","name":"Modern Farmer","url":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/logo-color-black.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/logo-color-black.svg","width":1,"height":1,"caption":"Modern Farmer"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ModernFarmerMedia","https:\/\/x.com\/ModFarm","https:\/\/instagram.com\/modfarm\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/modfarm\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f9bfc85fe7b14a386330346f1854c8c3","name":"Brian Barth","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8b1627d6bf581e517584e7115a28d141?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8b1627d6bf581e517584e7115a28d141?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Brian Barth"},"url":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/author\/brian-barth\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68901","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/215"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68901"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68901\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68902"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68901"},{"taxonomy":"format","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/format?post=68901"},{"taxonomy":"article-theme","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article-theme?post=68901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}