How would you answer this question: 

“What is your goal will no-till?”

I asked three prominent no-till farmers and here are some of the goals they shared: 

• Reduce machinery cost 
• Reduce time (labor) 
• Improve soil health 
• Manage water (with cover crops) to let rain soak in and maintain moisture deep in the soil
• Manage weather extremes
• Reduce fertilizer cost 
• Influence neighbors who use tillage

Are these goals much different than farmers who are still tilling every year or two? What do they want to achieve? Most have traded their moldboard plows for “lighter” tillage equipment, hoping to reduce fuel and labor costs. 

This year especially, they are reducing fertilizer purchases as much as they dare. Like no-tillers, they want to achieve a reasonable lifestyle, raise a family and “leave the farm better than they found it.”

Farm Journal conducted a poll in April that appeared in their May/June issue and here’s one result that stood out for me: The biggest challenge facing their operation, identified by 78% of the respondents, was “machinery and input costs.”  The farmers also listed commodity prices, weather and trade policy, which they…