Is NO-TILL the new ORGANIC ?

Should we be defining No-Till? What implications would that have for agriculture, farming practices, marketing, customers, etc.?

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[notillgrowers]

Love it! Great video. Will be fun watching the discussion below. Also first comment!

[chaddoyle]

I think appreciating no-till includes understanding the undesirable outcome of tilling. Tilling destroys the biome in the top soil, but there is one thing that matters when defining the destruction. It’s the volume of disturbance: it’s the area and depth that define whether that biome becomes unrecoverable. So I think we need some discussion about minimal soil disturbance in terms of volume, and we have to keep in mind that it’s not possible to have an unchanging biome. Therefore No-Till to me means that a healthy top soil biome is never destroyed to the point it’s not naturally recoverable within the timeframes that we use to define a season.

[trishnolde]

You made my day when you tossed that chicken to the side! Thanks for another great video! You really captured the changing space of "no-till"

[elb]

Josh, I'm glad to see you asking these questions and trying to get a conversation started. I raise chickens on pasture and this kind of thing is a big topic in the industry right now. To sum up, the term Pastured Poultry is gaining traction with consumers and corporate agribusiness has noticed. The process of distorting the term by big corporations so they can use it in marketing, while watering down the practices and spirit of the pastured poultry movement, is beginning. Legal battles are coming. It's important for smaller producers to be on the same page and united together to stand up to these companies. In the poultry world we have an organization called APPPA. I'm not sure if small market growers, no till growers, etc. have something similar but they probably should. Working together is the first step.

[andrewstacey]

I think regenerative is a definition that covers all aspects of healthy way to grow.

[brucedumler]

I minimize the amount of disturbance to the soil but when opening new farming areas I need to break the hard pan initially or that soil will not hold plant nutrients where I need them and you can forget about growing root crops like carrots. I do follow with lots of compost and lightly incorporate it into the soil. Over time it becomes a really good healthy soil.

[jeffkolp]

As a home gardener I have transitioned to no till 2 seasons ago. Planted and growing all growing season. Winter month are covered with 12-18 in of leaves. Then planted by removing leaves over rows or direct plant into leaves depending upon crop. Thrilled with yields, improved soil health and tilth. No chemicals, rotation, compost and manures. Not to mention reduced labor.

[robkoss]

I love your thinking in this video. Thinking AHEAD to what the term "no-till" might mean in the future to both producers and consumers. I think you're correct in saying that most of us have an idea in our head as to what each of us thinks "no-till" actually means. But we are far from a consensus. I am glad I found your channel!

[TheMacs]

Great video. I agree. I use broad fork and hand tools however consider it no till.. is it no till or is it disturbance and it tillage? Is aerating your soil or tilling being a form of aerating.. a lot of broad ness to the terms

[gardeningwithatley]

Great video. I think no till is only important to farmers or people interested in soil. Majority of consumers have no idea of soil food webs, or microbiol networks. Maybe it could be a good marketing technique, and an opportunity to teach people about the importance of it. Especially after recent research showing links between food grown in healthy living soil, and our own microbiome and how it can affect everything from immune system to mood and overall health. No till is the only way of keeping the soil life happy and humming along. I dont use any chemicals either, not even natural ones.

[jonjones]

Soil scientist here. However they define no-till, I hope they keep in mind what the main goal of reducing or removing tilling is, which is to reduce soil erosion. Yes, there are several other benefits to no-till farming (less soil disturbance, easier water infiltration, reduced flooding, less nutrient loss, less microbial biome interference etc.), but they are pretty much all side effects of reduced soil erosion.

[kristinajames]

It is my understanding that you have to begin covering the future garden area with straw/compost/weed cloth in the autumn. We have to till this year bc we haven't done that this past fall and we still want a garden this summer.

[frederickheard]

Here in Virginia, a lot of (larger scale) farmers think of no-till and organic as competing or even mutually exclusive methods. The state has pushed mechanized no- till systems as a way of reducing runoff and protecting the Chesapeake Bay, so it is common to see farms that minimize tillage but use a lot of pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilizers. Many of those farmers think organic is irresponsible because a lot of certified organic growers use tillage for weed control. Unfortunately, there aren’t many growers using the regenerative cocktail of no-till, cover crops+residues and species diversity as a way to support crops without chemical inputs.

[viewerman]

bottomline, is less need for additional nutrients, chemicals by optimising soil health and allowing natural aging processes take place

[kathleenschaefer]

I think the major reason conventional farming goes with no till is the big savings in fuel, wages, time, machinery maintenance and wear. That savings exceeds the loss of productivity from tilling, although there is an increase in using herbicides.

[timinvested]

I think no till is defined as regenerative agriculture with the least amount of soil disturbance possible to increase soil biology. Each farmers version of the least amount of disturbance as possible will vary slightly.

[gmaster]

Nice video, i would have to say imo the general public is not concerned about which method foods grown, rather more and more people catching on that its the synthetic garbage fertilizer s and chemicals...
When i was growing up it was just food.. No organic labels just more common sense people

[tanjawestfall-greiter]

I think Farmer Jesse's definition is the best one out there, but as you point out it needs to be qualified (organic, too? Beyond organic?). Regenerative ag might be the next term, encompassing no-till, refraining from all pesticides, perhaps even refraining from any amendments except compost/animal waste.

[BacktonaturelivingCom]

For me on my homestead, I find that no-till means using practices similar to what Charles Dowding and Ricky Baruc use... These are two excellent sources to learn from...

[deanwa]

Nice fall colors in the leaves behind you.