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Better Farming
February 2017
Story Idea?
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industry see them as okay.
“And then there are the organic
farmers. I work with organic farm-
ers. Tillage is an integral part of
their crop production practices.
These farmers use cover crops,
rotation and tillage. Are they
treating the soil worse than the
conventional farmers? Or are they
just treating it differently?
“Then there are the growers who
no-till and refuse to agree with
research findings. Just last night I
had a discussion with a no-tiller. I
told him that we have to do some
tillage to break the channels that go
down into the tiles to reduce P
runoff. He said, ‘I disagree with that
research.’
“But I believe the biggest problem
with no-till is the attitude of some
no-till promoters. I get a sense from
these folks that if you are not
no-tilling you are inferior. Either
you are not good enough a farmer to
no-till or you just don’t care.
“This attitude upsets me. Farmers
farm land the way they feel is best
for them and their land. If their
opinion differs from others, who is
to say who is right and who is
wrong?
“I guess the worst-case scenario is
if these no-till promoters are vocal
enough to persuade the government
to enact some type of guidelines that
prevents farmers from working their
land the way they believe it should
be worked. And I just don’t like to
have farmers criticized for how they
farm.”
To all this, Sandra said, “Oh and
now I know. At least that is your
opinion.”
BF
Consulting agronomist Patrick Lynch,
CCA-ON, formerly worked with OMA-
FRA and Cargill.
No-till soybeans.