Does your farm have less topsoil than it did 50 to 100 years ago? If you see muddy water running off the fields into roadside ditches or a creek you know you are losing topsoil. Gullies, even tiny ones, are evidence of lost soil. 

Yes, you’ve heard that nature replaces topsoil at about 5 tons per acre per year. So, losing that much soil is considered as ‘tolerable.’ But that 5 tons was a wild guess many years ago. I don’t know if the right answer is 2 tons or 4 or even 6 tons. As Dr. Jerry Hatfield, an authority on soil, has stated firmly, “There is no such thing as tolerable soil loss!” 

Here’s a good question: is the topsoil created from below, by nature, better and healthier than the soil you have seen leave the farm by water and wind erosion? 

Suppose nature does add a couple of tons of topsoil each year. What would be the result if you didn’t lose ANY soil to erosion? You would be adding topsoil. Over 25 to 50 years that should be a substantial increase in topsoil. 

Also, with continuous no-till and cover crops, you’ll be building topsoil from the top. For example, deep roots and earthworm activity will increase organic matter a few inches deeper in the soil. 

Perhaps you’re thinking, “But I have a plan worked out with NRCS folks. My fields are in compliance with government recommendations for my farm.”

SOIL ARMOR. Randall Reeder says no-tillers should…