Transitioning to Minimal-Till
By Mikael Maynard
Each farmer's relationship with the soil on the land he or she works is unique, and that is no different for us. While implementing a stratified, multi-functional, carbon-sequestering food growing system, we are also incrementally transitioning towards minimal till practices.
Given the popularity of ‘no-till’ farming and its benefits, our cautious phrasing begs for an explanation. Before we get into that, though, let’s talk about exactly what we mean when we say ‘no-till’ and ‘minimal till.’
Minimal till vs. no-till
To put it simply, minimal-till operations mean that you till sometimes! Though, it is not done unnecessarily and the aim is towards tilling the least amount possible.
Eric Toensmeier, author of “The Carbon Farming Solution,” explains no-till methods as those where “soil is not turned over with shovels or plows after establishment. This rules out perennial root crops, which require digging for harvest.”
One problem with the term ‘no-till’ is that it can make a farmer feel like they’ve failed by casting negative connotations toward an action that is necessary within specific parameters experienced by the farmer. Factors like access to appropriate tools, types of soil, previous land use, time, labor force, money and vision can all play a role in the practicality of no-till practices.
Costly no-till implements such as a roller/crimper, as well as the increased labor typically required in no-till operations, can limit the technique’s accessibility for many farms.
At the Johnny Appleseed Organic Village, for example, we have a labor force of four who work 20 acres of land that’s transitioning away from a more conventional farm setup. We recently redesigned a ⅝ acre off contour sugarcane field into semi-permanent vegetable beds between syntropic-style tree rows on contour.
Tilling was necessary to complete this transition — but the implementation of the tree rows will not require mechanized tilling again (though it will require some hand tilling due to the eddoe and yautia in them, which as Toensmeier as mentioned above, require digging to harvest).
Since we’ve already disqualified ourselves from the vaunted no-till title, let’s take a look at what we’re doing to minimize tilling instead.
Working Toward Minimal Till
There are a number of principles and practices we’ve implemented to reduce the amount of tilling and soil disturbance while transitioning to a stage where we can ultimately be a minimal till operation.
We do not till deeper than 6”. For larger spaces, we use a disc harrow, while smaller spaces require a rotary tiller which does not go deeper than 6”.
We are actively setting up perennial food growing systems such as those used in syntropic agroforestry and food forests of permaculture. Once installed, these require no mechanized tilling.
We also use animals as gentle earth movers. Pigs and chickens work together tilling the soil with their feet, beaks and snouts, actions they perform naturally. As we cycle them through our cell grazing systems, they help us transition over beds with their instincts — no mechanized tilling involved.
We grow plants like daikon radish with large tap roots that are allowed to decompose and break up tough clay soils.
We keep the soil covered at all costs with cover crops that are cycled through either by season or with a BCS flail mower. Biomass creation species are interplanted among productive fruit and vegetable species within tree rows.
Reasons for Minimizing Soil Disturbance
In case you’re wondering why anyone would do this, Edward H. Faulkner puts it nicely in “The Plowman's Folly,” written in 1943:
“We have been creating our own soil problems merely for the doubtful pleasure of solving them. Had we not originally gone contrary to the laws of nature by plowing the land, we would have avoided the problems as well as the expensive and time-consuming efforts to solve them.”
“That we would also have missed all of the erosion, the sour soils, the mounting floods, the lowering water table, the vanishing wildlife, the compact and impervious soil surfaces is scarcely an incidental consideration.”
It would be easy to think that an art as old as agriculture (evidence points to potentially dating back to 20,000 BCE!) would be flawlessly developed by now, but nothing could be further from the truth. Many of the deserts on earth today exist due to deforestation, largely agriculture-related. Though there has been much improvement since these times, we still have a long way to go.
After all these years of mismanagement, our soil is in dire need of replenishment. As Brian O’Hara writes in “No-Till Intensive Vegetable Culture,”
“Tillage obviously destroys any plant canopies in place, with the goal generally to begin to create an open soil surface that can be easily planted with crop seeds or transplants. Tillage therefore has a tremendous impact on a soil's ability to feed and protect itself with a cover of growing plants… In general a period in which soil is sitting barren is a period of loss of soil fertility and profitability.“
He goes on to explain what can happen when soils are not disturbed.
“The soil life gathers its living mass by recycling organic materials, as well as by taking up minerals released by the rock fragments along with water and air in the processes fueled by the sun. Once life has incorporated non-living mineral material into itself, much of this mineral material does not readily return to a non-living form. Instead life seeks to keep this material in the realm of life. The now biologically active materials are constantly recycled and built upon to create greater conditions of life. This yields the complexity and diversity that we perceive as the beauty of nature.”
Undisturbed soils that are high in organic matter, hold more water that is stored at deeper depths for passive use by plants and it is also more fertile! As Toensmeier explains, “This means they both capture and store more rainfall while reducing runoff and the resulting flooding. High-carbon soils are less vulnerable to erosion. They are also less likely to lose nutrients through leaching and have better fertility.”
Conclusion
According to the IPCC Summary of Mitigation, Implementation, and Time-Scale Potential for Selected Carbon Farming Techniques, “Tillage and residue management” of “reduced tillage, crop residue retention” has a “high potential global mitigation impact” for carbon sequestration — something that is foundational to the concept of a climate farm.
Whether you consider yourself no-till or minimal till is up to you. The important thing is creating systems that regenerate soil and disturb it the least amount possible.
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