Having farmed produce according to USDA organic standards for over 20 years I feel
like I’ve done a lot to grow food in a healthy, sustainable way. However as farmers we
are always learning, discovering, pushing the boundaries and trying new approaches to
further our goals of healthy food, strong communities, sustainable business, and better
future for our planet. A few years ago I began to look seriously into no till vegetable
production. This is in contrast to traditional tillage farming, which involves preparing the
soil for planting by some combination of plowing, discing, and roto tilling so as to have a
nice clean and fluffy planting bed with which to work.
The problem with this approach is that it tends to degrade soil structures. When you
disturb the soil in this way you are introducing a large amount of oxygen very quickly to
the soil, which is typically around 60% carbon, also known as organic matter. The result
is that your organic matter (carbon) breaks down rapidly, depleting your soils of this
extremely important element for healthy plant growth. In addition, the carbon (C)
combined with the oxygen (O2) yields CO2, and off-gasses into the air as this very potent
greenhouse gas. So I and many other forward thinking growers have come to determine
that limiting tillage would be far better for both soil structures and the environment as far
as limiting greenhouse gas emission from agriculture.
This is a simple way to look at the problem of excess tillage, and there are others such
as excessive runoff and the creation of a plowpan of hard soil at plow depth. But that is
in a nutshell what drives the thinking of no till practitioners.
In no till, or low till farming, which is also often referred to as regenerative agriculture,
we are first and foremost concerned with preserving and enhancing the organic matter
and thus the biological health of our soils. My approach has been to shift most of my
growing area over the last few years from long narrow rows to shorter, wider semi-
permanent beds. This allows me to concentrate on a smaller growing footprint so I can
really pay attention to the structure and life in the soil. Most no till farmers, myself
included, are building these beds over time by adding large amounts of organic matter to
the top of the beds in the form of compost or composted manure. Another way of adding
carbonaceous material is by growing cover crops in some beds. Adding rock powders
and other organic elements as needed based on a soils test is also essential.
But how do you incorporate these materials? And worse, how do you create beds from
virgin sod and deal with the subsequent weed problem. The primary way I do this is by
occultation. This is simply using heavy silage tarps (mine are black on one side and
white on the other) to smother the weeds and grass in lieu of tilling. In between crops
we make sure we either have a tarp over the beds, or they have some form of cover crop
growing on them. For the first incarnation of new beds we do often use a tool called a
broadfork to loosen the soil and increase aeration and water permeability. But we are
careful to not invert the soil at this time, only loosen it and give some form and shape to
our new beds.
Not till, or regenerative agriculture, has a few very basic rules of thumb. They are 1,
disturb the soil as little as possible. 2, add organic matter whenever possible. 3, use
innovative weed control measures. I use occultation, shallow hand weeding, and
mulching with natural materials or in some cases woven ground cover. And 4, switch a
healthy percentage of your crops to perennials if you are primarily an annuals grower.
Done properly, over time, this approach to vegetable farming can lead to very healthy
soils which produce high yields in small spaces while improving the ecology of the soil
and reducing harmful greenhouse gas emissions. I personally am in the second year of
what will be many years of setting up and fine tuning my own organic no till farming
system. It is important to me to adhere to USDA organic standards as I delve further into
no till farming. This may in the short term present some challenges, but I am confident
that the end result will be good for business, good for my community, and good for the
environment.
-Matt Herbruck, Farmer
Birdsong Organic Farm
Hiram, Ohio
