Editor’s Note: This article complements the YOUR NO-TILL HISTORY article on “World’s Longest Continuing No-Till Plots at Ohio State Hit 60 Years” that appeared in the February 2023 edition of No-Till Farmer. 

When asked of the global importance of the Ohio State University’s no-till research plots that marked 60 years in 2022, Warren Dick, retired Emeritus Professor of Soil Science at OSU, who had primary responsibility for the plots from 1980-2016, points to the scientific citations. 

Dick says that Google Scholar reports that the top three papers on which the OSU plot data was based represents 1,697 citations alone. “It’s safe to say these plots have generated more citations than any other such plots,” he says.

According to Google Scholar, just the top three papers published from data collected from the Ohio State No-Till Research Plots total 1,697.

  • No‐tillage crop production: A revolution in agriculture! GB Triplett Jr, WA Dick. Agronomy Journal 100, S-153-S-165; 675 citations (2008)
  •  Organic carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus concentrations and pH in soil profiles as affected by tillage intensity. WA Dick. Soil Science Society of America Journal 47 (1), 102-107; 601 citations (1983)
  •  Influence of long‐term tillage and crop rotation combinations on soil enzyme activities. WA Dick. Soil Science Society of America Journal 48 (3), 569-574; 421 citations (1984)

“Collectively, it’s probably safe to say these plots have generated more citations than any other such plots,” he says of the global influence on the science of no-tillage.

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