You’ve seen it in movies. Archers launch a thousand arrows, which shower down on enemy knights like rain. However, the knights find protection under their shields as the arrows fall all around them.
Dead plant material is a bit like that. It acts as a shield, protecting soil from the bombardment of raindrops.
After a crop is harvested, pieces of the plants remain on top of the ground--stems, stalks, and leaves. This leftover plant material is called “crop residue,” and it protects the soil from the battering power of rain. Residue helps to “stop the drops.”
If a farmer does too much tillage (digging up soil with machinery), the soil loses this protection. Crop residue is buried and soil erosion increases. That’s why some farmers don’t do any tillage. They’re called “no-till farmers.”
No-till farming helps to reduce soil erosion.
When you leave dead plant material, known as “crop residue,” on the ground, it protects the soil from rain.
Photo: U of I College of ACES-ITCS