Print This PageBenefits of Our Products
Conservation Tillage
Beginning in the mid-1970s and increasing throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the trend toward crop production methods that deemphasize use of the plow has increased dramatically. This movement within the agricultural industry involves a range of new farming production methods that collectively are known as "conservation tillage." In short, less plowing of the soil and more crop mulch and cover on fields are what make conservation tillage different from conventional farming.
Mulch is a protective blanket of leaves, stems and stalks from a previous crop that is left on the soil surface after harvest and during and between growing seasons. Sometimes, mulch is created by planting cover crops such as wheat, rye or perennial grasses, then leaving the stubble to serve as the protective cover. This cover shields the soil surface from heat, wind and rain; keeps soils cooler; and reduces moisture loss to evaporation.
Few people outside agriculture have noticed or paid attention, but conservation tillage has been a major change that has positively affected everyone. This movement away from the plow has been a quiet revolution.
