What If 100% of Midwest Farmers No-Tilled?

If 100% of Midwest farmers switched to no-till, they’d prevent billions of tons of soil loss over the next 100 years, according to a research model from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

At the current rate of tillage, the Midwest is projected to lose 8.8 billion metric tons of soil over the next 100 years. But if all farmers switched to minimal tillage or no-till, they’d reduce projected soil losses by 95%.

“The pace of loss would be so significantly slowed down by these measures that it would take 10,000 years to reach the levels of soil loss that will unfold in just a century if regional farming methods don’t change at all,” says an article from Anthropocene magazine about the research study.

53% of Most Profitable Illinois Soybean Fields Are No-Tilled

Less is more when it comes to tillage and profitability, says a report from the Illinois Precision Conservation Management program. “The Business Case for Conservation,” a summary of Illinois farmer data from 2015-22, says more than half of the most profitable Illinois farmers are no-tilling soybeans.

An analysis of 1,156 soybean fields found 53% of the most profitable fields were no-tilled. Only 8% of the most profitable soybean fields were managed with 3 or more tillage passes. As for corn, 51% of the most profitable fields were managed with minimal tillage.

Right Fungicide Application Timing Shows $17 Per Acre ROI

Timing is a critical factor for fungicide applications in soybeans. According…