No-Till

“Across 41 farm sites and five soil series in Central Ohio, woodland soils had consistently lower bulk density and penetration resistance and higher porosity than cropland or meadow, while no-till and minimum till fields showed no clear physical advantage over conventional tillage even after 15+ years. Soil organic carbon explained a moderate share of variation in porosity, bulk density, and compaction (R² ≥ 0.33), suggesting building SOC is the lever — and that structural gains from reduced tillage may take longer than 15 years to show up.”

“Pairing 13C-labeled tracer incubations across sandy-to-loamy soils (17-67% sand) with Cycles model runs for continuous maize in Nebraska and Illinois shows that soil texture strongly controls whether added carbon is respired as CO2 or retained as soil organic matter, and that texture, precipitation and drying-rewetting frequency together with tillage regime (no-till vs. conventional) determine future soil carbon change. The dataset provides the respiration, soil carbon retention and simulated soil organic carbon and maize yield outputs behind those comparisons.”

“Wheat drilled into corn residue in northern Alabama yielded 23% more under some surface tillage (conventional, mulch, or light disk) than under no-till, and mulch tillage gave the best net return ($733/ha vs $468/ha for no-till). Fall N boosted early growth up to 25%, but splitting the remaining N between fall and spring gave no yield gain over a single application; 134 kg N/ha maximized no-till yield and returns, suggesting current N recommendations after corn may be too low.”

“In a 2022 survey of 1,119 farmers across MN, NE, ND, and SD, only 15% used biofertilizers, but 88% of those users planned to keep using them and 20% of non-users wanted to try them within three years. Adopters tended to be younger, farm larger acreages, value workshops for learning, and already use cover crops, no-till, and soil nutrient testing — suggesting biofertilizers fit into a broader conservation package rather than standing alone.”

“Machine learning models built from agronomic, drone, and environmental data predicted sorghum grain quality traits accurately enough to cut lab testing — crude protein R²=0.90, amylose R²=0.92-0.99, starch R²=0.80, with lysine-from-protein weakest at R²=0.64. Grain composition shifted measurably with year and management (precision N, cover crops, no-till), and leaf temperature and stomatal conductance had strong non-linear links to amylose.”

“Paired on-farm sampling to 1 m across 22 regenerative vs. conventional field pairs in Iowa and southern Minnesota showed that historical sheet and rill erosion is a major driver of soil carbon differences; adding RUSLE2 erosion estimates to DayCent lifted agreement between measured and modeled SOC stocks from R² 0.27 to 0.74, especially on gentle 2–4° slopes.”

“Cutting irrigation to 50% of crop ET over six years in Utah barely changed soil organic matter or aggregate stability, though warmer Cedar City saw ACE protein drop from 1.57 to 1.41 g/kg and Vernal soil respiration was 28% higher under full irrigation. Cover cropping was the standout for infiltration, raising field-saturated hydraulic conductivity to 24.62 cm/h versus 5.55 (tilled) and 3.42 (no-till) cm/h.”

“Across 10 long-term Arkansas row-crop trials, soil health indicators (CO2 respiration, β-glucosidase, POXC, organic matter) and composite scores were highest in the top 0-5 cm and declined with depth, and were higher in summer and winter samples than in spring or fall (fall lowest). Cover crops and fertilized treatments scored better than winter fallow and unfertilized plots, so soil health monitoring needs standardized sampling depth and season to make valid comparisons.”

“Twenty-seven years of organic no-till in central Ohio, comparing compost, manure, cover crop and fallow treatments, produced measurable differences in soil physical quality — bulk density, penetration resistance, water-stable aggregates, saturated hydraulic conductivity, organic carbon and plant-available water — at two depths, combined into a single soil physical quality index. The dataset offers a rare long-term benchmark for how organic amendments and continuous cover shape soil structure and water-holding ability.”

“After 27 years of no-till in central Ohio, annual cow manure (23.3 Mg/ha/yr) gave the highest plant-available water capacity in the top 20 cm (5.14 cm) and the highest surface water content (44.4% at pF 1.8) versus 35.8% under cover crops, mainly by building storage (meso) pores and lowering bulk density. Compost showed poorer pore-structure response, suggesting clogged mesopores, so manure was the more reliable amendment for improving water delivery.”

“On a poorly drained no-till Wisconsin field, surface-applied composted or fresh dairy manure (81-102 kg total N/ha) did not match sidedressed urea at 90 kg N/ha for corn yield or nitrogen uptake, and left lower plant-available N in the top 10 cm. An interseeded annual ryegrass cover crop cost nothing in yield or N uptake and cut nitrate-N leachate concentrations by 1.7-4.9 times.”

“We found an association between increased carbon, aggregation, and AMF biomass. Greater soil aggregation, carbon and AMF were observed in NT at 0–5 cm soil depth. The W-S cropping system had greater soil microbial community composition based on fungi biomass, AMF and fungal to bacteria ratio from phospholipid fatty acid analysis (PLFA). Large macroaggregates were positively correlated with total C and N, microbial biomass, Gram + , and AMF. Soil water content was positively correlated with macroaggregates, total C and N, and AC. No-till increased soil carbon content even after 44 years of cult”

“After 27 years of no-till in central Ohio, compost and manure raised topsoil (0-20 cm) carbon stocks about 66%-67% above fallow, with compost sequestering 0.85 Mg C/ha/yr and manure adding the most nitrogen (0.061 Mg N/ha/yr); cover crops alone gave a smaller 21%-27% gain. Higher soil carbon tracked better aggregate stability (R2 = 0.76) and lower bulk density, though compost also pushed up salinity near the surface.”

“The LTAR Integrated Common Experiment at Upper Mississippi River BasinPlatteville.”

“Conservation Tillage and Nitrogen Management for Sugarbeet Production.”

“The impact of long-term conservation farming research and education in Pacific Northwest wheatlands.”

“Bacterial communities on wheat grown under long-term conventional tillage and no-till in the Pacific Northwest of the United States.”

“Mapping crop residue and tillage intensity using WorldView-3 satellite shortwave infrared indices.”

“Estimates of Conservation Tillage Practices Using Landsat Archive.”

“The initial nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide, and methane costs of converting conservation reserve program grassland to row crops under notill vs. conventional tillage.”

“Comparing the Soil Management Assessment Framework to the Haney Soil Health Test Across Managed Agroecosystems.”

“Sustainable aviation fuel production from Brassica carinata in the Southern United States.”

“Phosphorus availability and leaching losses in annual and perennial cropping systems in an upper US Midwest landscape.”

“Native warm-season grasses have potential to increase the ecosystem services associated with grazing lands and to provide a source of forage for livestock.”

“Soil stoichiometry, driven by plant chemical traits, appeared to be the strongest driver of priming. This shows that shifts in plant communities involving increases in N relative to P can cause carbon loss.”

“A three year on-farm conservation-tillage experiment was initiated in fall of 2008 at Randle Farm LLC, located in Auburn, AL.”

“A field experiment was conducted in Cullman, AL, to evaluate the effects of three different rollers/crimpers on the termination of a winter cover crop, soil moisture, and yield of sweet corn in a no-till system.”

“Cover-Crop Roller–Crimper Contributes to Weed Management in No-Till Soybean.”

“Comparing Soybean Productivity, Soil Health, and Economic Viability Under NoTillage and Conventional Tillage in the Lower Mississippi Delta.”

“CT released more vetch N (recovery ~55–56% vs ~22–29% NT) and raised soil inorganic N, but yield depended on weather: NT benefited in a dry year (moisture), CT won in 1986. Manage for N–water tradeoffs.”

“Rotations with a minimum duration of bare fallow periods and integration of cover crops contribute to structural soil properties.”

“This study provides insight into how land use centered on agroecological principles affords greater water resilience, at multiple scales.”

“Field experiments were conducted at three locations in Indiana to assess weed suppression by cereal rye and residual herbicide premixes in no-till corn.”

“Soil health and nutrient density: preliminary comparison of regenerative and conventional farming.”

“An experiment conducted at the University of Wisconsin's Arlington Agricultural Research Station from 2021 to 2022 examined both pre and postcorn planting management strategies of a red clover living mulch on clover growth, weed biomass, corn plant population, and grain yield.”

“Impact of tillage practices and supplemental arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi inoculation on organic sweet corn yield and nutritional quality.”

“Soil health and nutrient dynamics in pasturelands: A decadal study on the effects of alternative grazing management.”