User:Justin Germanovich/sandbox

Farmers have been plowing since 12,000BC turning and mixing soil thinking it provides benefit and economic value. However in modern agriculture farmers are realizing it quit the opposite, when dirt keeps getting tilled it's only dirt. And not soil, why is that you might ask? Well it's quite simple, soil was never meant to be tilled because that's how mother nature intended it. When soil gets tilled it destroys soil structure and breaks the soil aggregates which is what allows heavy equipment to be able to drive on top of the ground without sinking in. A few good questions to ask yourself is why in a conventionally tilled field is why does the water not infiltrate as well compared to a no-till field? And why do conventionally tilled fields dry up much faster than no-tilled fields? It all comes back to soil health and biology. One gram of soil can contain up to one billion beneficial bacteria. But when the soil keeps getting tilled that number quickly plummets, and the main factor for that is oxygen gets introduced into the soil. Burning the organic matter and killing the biology that makes soil, soil. But soil does need air, but without mechanical tillage tools introducing oxygen in the soi, then how does it get it? The answer to that is worms and roots, worms dig tunnels to the surface of the soil to eat the residue after harvest. Bringing that residue back down their channels which is what allows the soil to get oxygen a much healthier way. Roots also provide channels for worms to follow but the main benefit of roots is they fight soil compaction. The main reasons why farmers will plow deep is to “break compaction”, when in reality the compaction is created by the tillage tools. How tillage creates compaction is because it destroys the soil aggregates which essentially pour space. When a field gets tilled up it will naturally get dense and compacted since the soil aggregate isn't keeping it spongy and absorbent anymore. Which is why heavy equipment will have a tendency to rutt up a field or just flat out sink. Another issue with no pore space is poor water infiltration, since the ground is now binded together like cement it wont allow water to sink in. The very top layer of the field will be wet and sticky but underneath will be slightly wet but not enough rain will be fully absorbed to benefit the crops that are out growing in the field. With no-till practices it will leave a healthier field for healthier crops with more nutrients that benefit us as a consumer. And benefit the farmer with fewer expenses to grow the same and or better crop.

Barth, Brian., “THOU SHALT NOT TILL.” p16-17

http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/delivery?sid=cld85bbc-16a4-44

Huggins, David et al., “No-Till: The Quiet Revolution”, p71-77

http://web.b.ebscohost.com.cod.idm.oclc.org/ehost/detail/detail?vid=3&sid=091c1684-11a6-471f-8f00-ef4aea4b9c34%40sessionmgr101&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#AN=32562862&db=a9h

McGinty, Joe., “The Dirty Little Secrets Behind Earthworms; They benefit the soil, and farming techniques that minimize tillage are good for them” p1-3

http://web.b.ebscohost.com.cod.idm.oclc.org/ehost/detail/detail?vid=14&sid=091c1684-11a6-471f-8f00-ef4aea4b9c34%40sessionmgr101&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#AN=123902530&db=a9h \

Newsweek Global., “KILL THE PLOUGH, SAVE OUR SOILS.” p1-4

http://web.b.ebscohost.com.cod.idm.oclc.org/ehost/detail/detail?vid=16&sid=091c1684-11a6-471f-8f00-ef4aea4b9c34%40sessionmgr101&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#AN=96254483&db=a9h

Poncavage, Joanna., “5 Expert-Recommended TOOLS FOR NO-TILL PLOTS.” p43-45

http://web.b.ebscohost.com.cod.idm.oclc.org/ehost/detail/detail?vid=5&sid=091c1684-11a6-471f-8f00-ef4aea4b9c34%40sessionmgr101&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#AN=119183719&db=a9h