Tillage in the United States
Understanding the Charts
This section provides data on the amount of cropland acres that were planted using a farming system known as “conservation tillage.” It also provides information on “no-till,” which is just one form of conservation tillage.
Note: An acre of land is a little bit smaller than a football field.
What is Conservation Tillage?
Tillage is when farmers disturb the soil in the fall or spring to get it ready for planting. But with conservation tillage, farmers try to reduce or sometimes eliminate tillage.
When tillage is reduced, the soil is covered by greater amounts of “crop residue”—dead plant material such as corn stalks. Crop residue protects the soil from erosion by shielding it from raindrops and slowing down runoff water. Residue “stops the drops” and “slows the flow.”
The goal of conservation tillage is to leave at least 30 percent of the field covered with crop residue. Some common forms of conservation tillage are:
- No-Till. All of the soil is left undisturbed from harvest to planting. That way, most of the crop residue is left on the soil surface to protect against soil erosion. Of all of the conservation tillage systems, no-till gives the most protection.
- Strip-Till. Most of the soil is undisturbed from harvest to planting. Only a narrow strip (about one-third of a row) is disturbed. This is where seeds are planted or drilled.
- Mulch-Till. All of the soil in the rows is disturbed. However, farmers use special tillage tools that preserve as much crop residue as possible.
Where Do These Numbers Come From?
Tillage numbers come from the National Crop Residue Management Survey, which is run in each state by the Natural Resources Conservation Service. It is coordinated nationally by the Conservation Technology Information Center.
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