Tillage Survey News Release
For use October 1994 - September 1995
For more information, contact: Editor
at CTIC: (765) 494-9555
NATIONAL SURVEY: No-till and plow edge up
West Lafayette, IN -- U.S. farmers are using an environmentally-beneficial planting
method called no-till on more acres than ever but the use of the plow is also edging
up. The newly-released National Crop Residue Management Survey shows farmers
used no-till on an additional 4.2 million acres this year. However, for the first time in
years, the annual tillage survey also registered an increase in the number of acres
plowed or heavily tilled before planting. Just over 3.5 million additional acres of
ground were heavily tilled or planted without the benefit of crop residues. Several
million acres of land were returned to crop production this year, apparently bolstering
numbers in both categories.
No-till, mulch-till and ridge-till are conservation tillage practices that help the
farmer keep beneficial plant materials (leaves, stalks, etc.) from previous crops on
the soil surface. By definition, conservation tillage practices leave 30 percent or
more of the plant materials or crop residues on the soil surface after planting.
Crop residues reduce soil erosion, air and surface water pollution, conserve soil
moisture, and improve the soil by adding organic matter. Conservation tillage
practices reduce the number of trips farmers make through fields, decreasing fuel
consumption and limiting wear on farm machinery.
Conservation tillage
No-till increased from almost 35 million acres last year to nearly 39 million acres
this year. The only conservation tillage practice that declined was mulch-till which
was down about 2 million acres for a total of almost 57 million planted acres this
year. Ridge-till was up just over 100,000 acres for a total of 3.6 million acres
nationwide. CTIC Executive Director Jerry Hytry says, "Despite the drop in mulch-
till, the big increase in no-till allowed the conservation tillage category to post
a net gain of over 2 million acres this year."
Conservation tillage vs. plow farming
No-till and the plow apparently fought it out for some six million additional acres
that were planted in the U.S. this year. Most of the additional land had probably
been idled by farmers in previous years for government payments to reduce crop
sur-
pluses. 1994 marks the first time in six years that the percentage of land farmed
with a plow increased. Until this year, the total number of acres plowed or heavily
tilled had steadily declined. Survey coordinators suspect some of the acres were
plowed to repair damage left by flooding during the 1993 growing season or to break
up heavy grass and weeds that had grown after years of lying idle. The more than
111 million acres heavily tilled account for just over 39 percent of all planted
acres while acres planted with one of the three conservation tillage practices topped
99 million acres, nearly 35 percent of all acres planted.
Crop residue management
The remaining planted acres show up in a 15-30 percent crop residue category, called
reduced-till. This is not a form of conservation tillage but may represent a
posi-
tive system for soil erosion control. Combined with other conservation practices
like strip cropping, terraces and rotations, crop residue levels of 15 to 30 percent
at planting, may provide adequate erosion control. Adding the reduced-till acres to
the conservation tillage acres, forms the broad crop residue management (CRM)
category. This category accounts for more than 172 million acres or over 60 percent
of the nearly 284 million acres planted in the U.S.
Regional/State highlights
Regions with the greatest conservation tillage acreage are: Corn Belt - 35 million
acres, Northern Plains - 26 million acres, and the Great Lakes States - 9.5 million
acres.
No-till is most prominent in the Corn Belt with 20.4 million acres, followed by the
Northern Plains at 5.8 million and the Appalachian region with 4.6 million acres.
The leading mulch-till state is Iowa with 6.4 million acres, followed by North Dakota
with 5.2 million acres and Nebraska with 5 million acres.
Ridge-till's top state is Nebraska with over 1.5 million acres planted this year.
Minnesota is a distant second with 509,000 acres.
Ridge-till is most practiced in the Northern Plains with 1.9 million acres, followed
by the Corn Belt with 700,000 acres. The Great Lakes States account for 600,000
acres. Ridge-till posted increases this year in Nebraska, Kansas, Louisiana, Texas,
Oklahoma and North Dakota.
Crop-related highlights
No-till corn has more than doubled in five years from 8 percent to 18 percent of all
planted acres in 1994. Iowa took over first place this year with 2.3 million acres
of no-till corn while Illinois dropped to second place with 2.1 million acres.
Nebraska, Indiana, Ohio, Missouri, Kentucky, Michigan, South Dakota and
Wisconsin round out the top ten for no-till corn.
No-till full season (same as single crop) soybeans have increased over 6 times in the
last 6 years, from 4 percent of total planted acres to 24 percent this year. Top states
include Illinois (2.7 million), Indiana (2.3 million), Iowa (2 million), Ohio (1.8 million),
and Missouri (1.1 million).
Conservation tillage now accounts for 47 percent of full season soybean acres, 40 percent of
corn acres, and 31 percent of small grain acres (spring and fall seeded wheat, oats, rice,
rye etc.).
No-till cotton has increase more than four times in the last four years with
Tennessee leading the way. Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina and
Louisiana also posted increases this year.
The National Crop Residue Management Survey is produced annually by the Conservation
Technology Information Center (CTIC), in cooperation with the USDA Soil
Conservation Service. CTIC is a nonprofit, ag-based technology transfer center
that promotes environmentally beneficial and economically viable natural resource
systems.
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