Rick Clark has been a big believer in no-till organic for some time. However, that doesn’t mean it’s always been an easy cropping shift to manage.

In fact, the Williamsport, Ind., no-tiller has dealt with serious weed concerns that have forced him to do some tillage in a few fields. 

Managing the family’s 7,000-acre Clark Land & Cattle Co., he grows corn, soybeans, wheat, buckwheat, spring wheat, cover crops and alfalfa along with beef cattle. The operation includes several non-GMO organic crops.  

In a recent ACRES USA article, the former National No-Tillage Conference speaker admits to doing some tillage in 2025. 

“The purpose of the tillage event was to reset the soil profile and microbial biome and hopefully to better express the cover crop seeded immediately after the tillage,” he says. “This includes a dose of shallow tillage, moldboard plowing and cultivation in a few fields.

New Weed Worries 

Major concerns with 5 perennial weeds include Canada thistle, goldenrod, bluegrass, aster and chicory.

“We even have trees growing in some fields because we’ve shifted so much toward fungal-based soils,” he says. “Those 5 weeds have really bogged down our system. If you plant corn into a very heavily intensified area with chicory, there won’t be a stalk of corn that survives. Same with Canadian thistle.”

Clark is interested in new weed control methods that do not pertain to chemistry or tillage, and mechanically control them or possibly deal with a 7–8-inch band. “If I could just have a 4-week delay for weeds, that would be great,” he adds.

Before shifting to regenerative practices, the farm’s soils were around 80% bacterial and 20% fungal, much like the majority of today’s U.S. farm ground. As Clark moved into regenerative ag and trimmed all inputs, these soils shifted to 22% bacterial and 78% fungi. That shift led to many of today’s concerns.

“Because we now have such a fungi-dominated soil, we’ve got trees and perennial weeds growing in our fields,” he says. “To achieve a better balance in the system, I am trying a tillage experiment to see how bad the microbial community is disrupted and how quickly it can bounce back.”

Clark did a little more tillage than desired in a couple fields. But he’s trying to zero-in on a system that is going to work across many acres.

Cover Crop Benefits

Clark finds it important to determine in advance how to terminate the covers in the spring based on his multi-species cover crop mixes. Options include no termination, using a roller crimper or doing light tillage at a 2-inch depth.

In the fall of 2024, he ran a high-speed disc at 12 mph, churning only the top 2 inches of soil. This was followed with a 7-species cover crop mix that led to the best fall growth he has ever seen.

Clark has had a purist stance on organic no-till, admitting what he is doing is extremely difficult. “I’ve pounded very hard on organic no-till and I’m not backing off,” he says. “I’m not saying I’m going to start becoming a tiller, but I think farmers need to wisely use the tools that fit within that context. Maybe a little bit of tillage and a little bit of manure, for example.”

He wants his organic fields to be no-till most of the time. “However, I think occasional tillage is justifiable and even helpful as long as soil health principles are observed,” he says. 

Clark says it’s very important to meet farmers where they are on their journey. “It’s important to take pieces from many systems to build your own system,” he says. “There is no single answer.”

Pick & Choose

Clark makes a very important point that I totally agree with. Since we started this publication in 1972, it means going slow with any prospective shift to no-till.

Nothing is scarier than to hear from someone who has never no-tilled a single acre tell me that he’s making a 100% move to no-till. Instead, it makes more sense to reduce the risk to first try no-till, strip-till or cover crops on a limited scale. 

I speak from personal experience of a Michigan attendee at our first National No-Tillage Conference in 1993 who had never no-tilled an acre. He called a month later to tell me he had sold off all his tillage equipment and was going 100% to no-till that spring on 700 acres. That’s not the way I’d suggest moving into no-till, but he made it work.

Like Clark, I believe choosing practices from several systems is the way to go. One of my favorite sayings to tell our readers over the 50-plus years that I have edited this publication is “We’ll give you the ingredients, but you have to write your own recipe.” Follow this advice and the possibilities for success are much higher than if you follow someone else’s recommended no-till, cover crop or strip-till program. It’s also good advice to share with others who are considering making tillage and soil health changes such as these.

For more on his ideas, go to “If It’s Not Wacky Enough, It May Not Work: No-Till Innovations with Rick Clark.”  on the NoTillFarmer.com website.