Definition

• The USDA defines reduced tillage as tillage types that leave 15 to 30 percent residue after planting, or 500 to 1,000 lbs. per acre of small grain residue equivalent throughout the critical period of wind erosion. Herbicides and cultivation are used to control weeds.
  
  Conventional tillage, on the other hand, leaves less than 15 percent residue after planting.
  
  

Conventional Tillage vs. Reduced Tillage

• Conventional farmers can often overturn the earth several times a year. This introduces harmful nitrates and pesticides to the soil in order to allow for monocrop growth without totally depleting the nutrients of the soil. Common in organic farming, reduced tillage seeks to disturb the earth minimally, so the organics remain in the earth. Natural means are used to maintain the nutrition of the soil.
  
  

Benefits

• Reduced tillage minimizes the loss of topsoil so that plants get the best organic nutrients possible. By lessening topsoil loss, soil erosion is reduced. Soil erosion causes a loss in soil aggregates and organic matter. With reduced tillage, the nutrients remain naturally, so adding nitrates and pesticides is no longer necessary.
  
  

High Nutrition

• Nutrients in soil are predominantly located in the upper layer of the soil. These include aerobic microorganisms, facultative anaerobes and denitrifiers that help plants grow. By minimally disturbing the upper later, reduced tillage allows these natural organisms to remain for the benefit of the plants.
  
  

Reduced Plant Disease

• Reduced tillage also minimizes the risk of disease to plants. The organic farming practice encourages natural environments that don't support fungi, viruses, bacteria and other diseases. Reduced tillage allows plants to grow healthier with soil free from these contaminants for healthier plants.
  
  

Price Comparisons

• Overall, reduced tillage is considerably cheaper than conventional practices. According to the American Farmland Trust, reduced tillage can be done for about $6 per acre, compared to $11 with a conventional chisel plow, $9 with a tandem disk harrow, $8 with a field cultivator. The trust estimates that an entire field is about 1/2 as cheap to till with reduced tillage practices as part of organic agriculture.