In this issue of “Better Know a Farmer”, I contacted Bill Crabtree to learn about “no-till farming”. If you’re saying to yourself, “No-till? What are you waiting for? Till when? It doesn’t make sense” then you’re not alone. Bill has…
Tag: no-till
Concentrate Organic Matter at Surface to Improve Soils
Organic matter is the key to soil quality, but building soil organic matter levels can be slow and expensive. There is an alternative. Research shows (Franzluebbers, 2002) many soil functions improve when organic matter is concentrated in the top 2-3"…
Hamstrung by Ideology
Last summer, I visited an organic farm in the area. The farmer showed me various parts of his operation, one of which was a field that he had planted to a species of perennial grass that produces an abundance of…
Does no-till really reverse soil degradation?
A recent paper (Olson, 2013) finds a number of long-term studies were wrong about no-till practices building soil organic matter and thus sequestering carbon. Kenneth Olson, soil scientist at the University of Illinois, says the problem is how the studies…
Brazilian Brachialactone
Muck and Mystery: BrachialactoneAbout four years ago there was a flurry of commentary about Brazilian ag, noted here, when the World Food Prize was awarded to them.From only 200,000 hectares of arable land in 1955, the Cerrado had well over…