Organic Zero-till in the Dryland U.S. Plains Region: Opportunities and Obstacles.

Tillage is an essential weed control tool on most organic farms. Unfortunately, tillage can destroy soil structure, decrease soil moisture conservation, reduce beneficial micro- and macro-fauna and flora, and diminish overall sustainability of cropping systems. Tillage also depends on declining and expensive petroleum supplies to fuel the tractors which pull implements through fields. Those undesired environmental consequences and economic costs have generated considerable interest in emerging organic systems that reduce and even eliminate tillage when growing crops organically. Research was established to determine the suitability of Organic Zero-Till (OZ) to growing conditions in the northern Great Plains. Preliminary results from completed and ongoing research are mixed. Weed suppression following adoption of OZ systems was inconsistent across environments and years. In some instances, cover crop species relied on for weed suppression in many OZ systems became weeds in following crops. Large yields of grain and seed crops were produced in OZ systems in some environments but not in others. Interest in adopting OZ continues among farmers in the Great Plains, but new research is needed to overcome obstacles that hinder the adoption of OZ on commercial organic farms.