Planting green is better than plowing under a cover crop. Photo: Collected
Do you remember the term “soil tilth”? Perhaps vaguely. Around 1990, soil tilth changed to “soil quality,” which is clearer, at least for farmers.
Now we use the phrase “soil health,” which has a positive meaning not just for farmers but for the other 98% of Americans. As David Montgomery wrote recently, “Healthy soil supports healthy plants, which in turn support healthy animals, and ultimately human health and our overall well-being and existence.” This expresses a direct connection between our healthy no-till soils and healthy people.
You may remember when cover crops were referred to as “green manure,” which required being “plowed under.” We now know that plowing pretty much canceled out the benefits of the green manure.
In the 1990s, cover crops began being promoted for erosion control and to help no-till increase crop yields. Today, cover crops can go by a variety of names depending on the species and purpose: carbon crops, catch crops, companion crops, nurse crops, rotational crops, forage crops, perennial crops, summer annual crops, winter annual crops, pulse crops, cereal crops, and inter-crops.
Don Reicosky, an Ohio native and retired USDA-ARS soil scientist, suggests calling them “soil health crops,” for the way they contribute to improve nutrient cycling and biological activity, or “soil energy crops” or “soil function crops” for the way both the aboveground and belowground components contribute as an energy source for the soil biology.”
How about “conventional tillage”? That’s been used for years in research comparing moldboard plowing to no-till and strip-till. And plowing was “conventional” for centuries. But the global impact of “conventional tillage” has been the loss of almost one-third of farmable land due to erosion.
So, I began using “degenerative tillage” as a more accurate term for plowing because it degrades the soil. In the United States, our cropland has lost about half of the original organic matter. We need to stop degenerative tillage and move toward “regenerative farming.”
Ohio No-till Council Board of Directors
Thanks to the servant leadership of the Board of Directors and officers for guiding the education of Ohio farmers on continuous no-till, cover crops, and soil health. Here are the current Board members, each elected for a 3-year term: Nathan Brause (President), Tim Lyden, Neil Badenhop, Derek Beat, Jim Hoorman, Matt Burkholder, Keith Dennis, Rafiq Islam, Bill Lehmkuhl, Matt Sullivan, Ted Logan, Brady Smith, Matt VanTillburg, Bret Margraf, and Vinayak Shedekar. Plus three ex officio members: Justin McBride, George Derringer, and Jason Undercoffer.
Source: Online/GFMM
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