DOUG ADAMS, FARMER FROM HUMBOLDT
Tillage Timeout No-till, reduced tillage pays dividends for Iowa farmers BY BETHANY BARATTA
E
xpanded usage of reduced and no-till systems in the state could generate annual savings between $220 million and $265 million, a recent Iowa Soybean Association (ISA)commissioned study concluded. Twenty Iowa farmers were chosen for the study during the 2018 crop year to take a closer look at production and profitability. Study participants were chosen based on their extensive interest in conservation practices. Combined, participants raised 27,535 acres of corn and soybeans and were geographically dispersed throughout the state. ISA undertook the study with support from the Walton Family Foundation, the Environmental
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Defense Fund and Iowa-based Regional Strategic, Ltd. Data collected by farmers and shared via interviews were aggregated and summarized in 2019. Researchers observed the crop rotations for each farmer to determine the economic and yield impacts of conservation practices. Those of particular interest were reduced- and no-till systems, nutrient management and cover crop use. Of the combined 27,535 acres included in the study, 67.8% were no-till, 20.8% were in a reduced-tillage system. The remaining 11.4% were conventionally tilled. Detailed production records from some of the participants showed
implementation of a reduced- or notill system saved between $10 to $88 per acre. One participant was able to demonstrate a two-thirds reduction in tractor hours and reduced fuel needs from 5 gallons per acre to 1 gallon per acre. The estimated savings was higher among participants who provided extensive records, the study noted. According to a state-by-state breakdown of agricultural activity gathered from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) 2017 Census, 5 million acres of cropland were intensively tilled in Iowa. If half of those acres — 2.5. million — were to switch to a minimum-or no-till system, Iowa farmers could recognize annual savings
