Winnipeg, Manitoba
February 27, 2002

Reduced tillage - the farming practice of minimizing soil disturbance and leaving crop residues on the field - is catching on in Canada.

A recent Ipsos-Reid study shows the number of farmers practicing reduced tillage has more than doubled in the past five years. Acres seeded in Canada using reduced tillage systems has gone from 12 million in 1997 to more than 24 million in 2001, and reduced tillage acreage now accounts for 39 per cent of all seeded acres in Canada. Farmers who practice reduced tillage have provided economic benefits for themselves and have positively affected the environment and our food supply.

What is reduced tillage? Why should people care?

For as long as farmers have been growing crops, they have been plowing or tilling their fields, often up to three times a year in order to prepare for planting and control weeds. In recent years, however, the agriculture sector has benefited from new technology so that tillage isn't always necessary. Instead, many farmers have adopted reduced tillage - or conservation tillage - practices that range from reducing the number of tillage passes over a field, right through to no tilling at all.

One of the main benefits of reducing tillage is that it leaves crop residue, or stubble, on the ground, which literally helps block wind and water from eroding the soil and helps to preserve valuable croplands.

Additionally, when farmers adopt reduced tillage practices, they use less fuel and therefore contribute to the prudent use of non-renewable resources. As well, fields that receive less tillage contain a heavy amount of organic material that attracts and traps carbon dioxide from the atmosphere - thus helping to minimize the greenhouse effect that many scientists believe is contributing to global warming.

Reduced tillage practices also help to keep water in the soil - an essential factor in coping with drought conditions such as those seen widely across Canada last summer, and in drought-prone areas around the world. Residue left on fields eventually decomposes and helps provide the filtration that holds the water.

Reduced movement of water through the soil also helps protect water supplies by ensuring that nutrients intended to fertilize crops stay in the field, and that the soil itself stays in the field without washing into water sources.

Farmers who practice reduced tillage benefit from lower production costs, a major contributing factor to an affordable food
supply.

What's in it for farmers?

By reducing their tillage, farmers use less fuel as field operations are reduced and are able to realize significant fuel savings. It also means less labour costs, and reduced wear and tear on machinery so that maintenance costs are lowered and equipment life is extended. And finally, reduced tillage practices help farmers preserve the land that is their livelihood.

FACT SHEET

What is Reduced Tillage?

Traditionally, farmers plowed or tilled their fields in the fall in preparation for planting the next spring - a practice many generations of Canadian farmers have relied on to incorporate the residue from the previous crop into the soil. Tilling also warms the soil to help with early plant germination.

With recent developments in agricultural technology, however, farmers can now reap these same benefits without tilling - a practice called reduced tillage. Specifically, new types of seeding equipment mean farmers can now seed through the crop residue left on the ground, and advances in seed breeding have also helped develop hardier, cold tolerant seed that are suitable for cool spring growing conditions.

Reducing tillage means crop residue is not incorporated into the ground, but instead, is left on the soil surface to protect it, and eventually, to decompose and improve the health of the soil.

What are the benefits of reduced tillage systems?

• Reducing tillage helps soil to hold on to moisture more effectively, allowing plants to use water more efficiently and better resist drought conditions.
• Reduced tillage practices help prevent soil erosion because stubble left on the field after harvest helps to literally hold on to soil and keep if from eroding, whether by wind or water.
• A reduction in soil and water erosion means soil and nutrients stay on the field for use by the plant.
• Reducing tillage helps to decrease the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by creating the soil properties that trap and store it. This helps reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and minimize the greenhouse effect that many scientists believe is contributing to global warming.
• By limiting the number of tillage passes, farmers reduce their fossil fuel consumption and contribute to the efficient use of non-renewable resources.
• Farmers who adopt reduced tillage practices realize significant savings in fuel, labour and machinery costs - and it's these savings that contribute to the affordable food supply we enjoy in this country.

FACT SHEET

Reduced Tillage and Sustainable Farming

The global population is expected to grow from today's 6 billion to 8.5 billion by 2025, with the bulk of the increase in developing countries. The amount of agricultural land under production, however, is expected to remain at about one per cent of the world's landmass. Reduced tillage practices can play a significant role in helping farmers efficiently produce the food needed for a growing population, while conserving productive agricultural land for generations to come.

How does reduced tillage contribute to sustainable farming?

• One of the most important benefits of reduced tillage systems is the ability to conserve topsoil - in many areas of the world, only six inches or less of fertile topsoil remain. In areas of extreme erosion, reducing tillage can reduce soil erosion rates by 90 per cent.
• Reduced tillage practices also help improve soil health. Over time, soils become more fertile under reduced tillage management. Organic matter levels rise due to decaying stalks and stubble, and soil structure improves because it is not routinely being broken up by plowing, a process that destroys macropores created by earthworm populations and root systems. Left intact, these macropores allow for better movement and availability of moisture and nutrients for crops.
• Increased microbial activity from the many types of soil-borne living organisms also contributes to soil health. When reduced tillage practices are adopted, microbial activity can increase by as much as 44 per cent.
• In reduced tillage systems, soil is not as prone to compaction, which is caused by running heavy equipment over fields and can create hard soil layers that inhibit root growth.
• Reduced tillage practices also contribute to improved atmospheric conditions. Reducing the number of trips across the field with tillage equipment can reduce fuel requirements by up to 50 per cent, and contribute to the wise use of non-renewable resources. In addition, carbon stored in the soil remains in the soil instead of being released into the atmosphere by tillage.
• Finally, the protective blanket of crop residue reduces the amount of airborne soil particles resulting from wind erosion. Leaving crop residue on the soil surface also helps to trap applied nutrients, ensuring crops have adequate nutrients to maximize yield.