No-till is a soil conservation practice that has been widely adopted by Midwestern farmers. Many have described it as a “win-win” for soil conservation because it offers benefits that are both environmental (minimized soil disturbance and erosion) and economic (lowered operating costs). However, critics and adopters alike acknowledge that no-till comes with trade-offs, ranging from increased reliance on herbicides to later starts in spring planting. While the benefits and trade-offs of no-till are still being debated, my latest research article shows how the appeal of no-till is that it advances soil conservation without fundamentally questioning industrial farming’s aspirations for ever-increasing efficiency and profitablility.
Nicholas C. Kawa 