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| Why is is that some people seem to think no-tilling for several consecutive years and then tilling a field is "bad" or isn't real no-till.
If the goal of no-till is to reduce soil erosion, improve soil structure and fertility, to save fuel and time, reduce labor, and to grow better crops then to me there is nothing wrong with doing some full tillage every few years. Tillage can smooth the ground up, deal with extra heavy residue, control weeds, help the ground warm up and dry out, and keep yields up. I like using a variety of methods that result in every field receiving tillage at least once every five years or so but most of the acreage being no-tilled. I have plenty of earthworms in the soil and not much erosion yet because of the tillage I still get the benefit of reduced weed and disease problems common in continuous no-till.
Another thing is the fallow argument I have seen on here many times. Some say continuous cropping in dry areas is how to make no-till work, I am not very dry but I still utilize summer fallow but it is standing stubble chem fallow. That allows me to get fall crops established and produce higher yields because of the stored moisture.
It works for me, not saying it works for you but I am curious.
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Theory of no-till continous vs. short term
