Reducing tillage is an emerging focus in organic cropping systems.
Iowa State University Extension organic specialist Kathleen Delate calls organic no-till “new on the block” and says it will be difficult to perfect as most organic farmers rely on cultivation to control weeds.
“And I’m not saying ‘throw away your steel’ because it’s still in the experimental phase, but there’s a machine called a roller-crimper. You plant a cover crop in the fall and then roll it with the roller-crimper in the spring and it crushes down to a mulch.”
She tells Brownfield in ideal conditions the organic crop emerges but weeds don’t.
