Farm Talk Tuesday-No-Till Soybeans

We want to show you some of our beautiful no-till soybeans for Farm Talk Tuesday this week!

"No-till" means we don't do any tillage prior to planting. You'll notice that our soybeans pretty much always have leftover corn residue from the last year's corn crop. There are some challenges associated with no-tilling but we've found that the benefits outweigh the costs on our farm. We save money on things like fuel, labor, and equipment by minimizing the amount of tillage that we do. No-tilling also reduces soil compaction and has some pretty cool environmental benefits like increased carbon sequestration and reduced nutrient loss out of the field. The extra reside between each row of soybeans also helps retain moisture in the soil, much like a layer of mulch does in your flowerbed!

No-tilling is considered a conservation practice, as it helps improve soil structure and reduce soil erosion. Remember, every farm is different and although no-till works well in our operation, it may not work well for every farm depending on soil type, drainage, disease pressure, equipment and other resources available, etc.