While it's not likely to be a paying proposition in your no-till fields, gardeners are being encouraged to purchase earthworm castings to improve the productivity of their soils. Marketing materials for these casting products definitely show the correlation as to why increased earthworm numbers in your no-tilled fields help boost yields and protect the environment.

Q: How many earthworms do you need in no-tilled fields? A: To gain the benefits of a good earthworm population with no-till, you need 8 to 10 worms per square foot of soil 6 to 8 inches deep.

Conservation farming is revolutionizing agriculture through the adoption of new ideas, technology and practices. Direct seeding (no-tilling) is just one of these new practices that is reforming the way that we farm.

Rather than causing major compaction concerns, Lloyd Murdock credits long-term no-till with being able to solve many of your more troublesome soil worries. That’s what the University of Kentucky soil scientist learned from a recent 5-year study that looked at no-till and soil compaction as reported in a recent Soybean Digest article.