If the quickest way to change a farmer's mindset is through economics, then these 12 reasons should provide plenty of motivation for making the switch to no-till.

No-till means not plowing. It means using herbicides to control weeds, instead of tillage. And it means cutting soil erosion by about 90 percent without cutting yields. It is now used on almost 42 million acres of U.S. cropland.

More than 30 years ago, a team of researchers from the University of Tennessee Agricultural Experiment Station began looking at no-till as an alternative to traditional plowing. Since then, TAES researchers have produced more research on no-till crop production than any other university in the nation.

Our research has left no doubt that no-till farming is the most cost-effective way to control erosion and maintain soil productivity. Therefore, I usually list these 12 reasons why farmers are changing to no-till:

1. Reduced labor requirements.
   No-till takes as little as one trip per planting compared to five or six for conventional tillage. This gives the producer the opportunity to farm more acres and is the No. 1 reason why farmers are changing to no-till.
2. Time savings.
   No-till can drastically reduce the time required to prepare and plant a field. Conventional farmers may need 42 minutes per acre to plow, disc, field-cultivate and plant. No-till may take as little as six minutes per acre. For a 1,000-acre farm, the timesavings would be 600 hours.
3. Field accessibility.
   Early planting is important to corn, cotton and double-crop soybeans. No-till farmers spend the critical days planting rather than tilling. With cotton, which requires a rigid schedule of sequential sprays, ground-spraying equipment can almost always travel and spray over no-till fields.
4. Lower machinery investment.
5. Reduced operating costs.
   No-till planters and drills take half the horsepower of big tillage tools. Maintenance costs are $5 less per acre, and tractors last longer. Average fuel consumption is cut from five gallons per acre to 1.5 gallons per acre.
6. Reduced soil erosion.
   No-till cuts water runoff from the fields by 90 percent. That means less topsoil loss, fewer gullies and better crops. It also means less siltation in rivers and reservoirs and less runoff of fertilizers and pesticides to damage marine ecosystems.
7. Improved water infiltration.
   Crop residues act as tiny dams to slow water runoff from the field, allowing the water more time to soak into the soil. One eastern Tennessee no-till farmer actually observed no runoff of water, even on slopes of 12 to 25 percent. Also, crop residue on the soil surface reduces water evaporation from the soil during dry years, leading to higher no-till yields than in conventional fields.
8. Increased organic matter.
   Plowing exposes organic matter to the air, and the carbon stored in the soil oxidizes into the atmosphere. No-till leaves the organic matter down in the soil where it can encourage earthworms, soil bacteria and crop growth.

   Organic matter levels have actually doubled during a 10-year period of continuous no-till.

9. Decreased soil compaction.
   Intensive tillage breaks down the soil structure and promotes compaction. It also sends heavier machines across the field more times. No-till leaves more space between the soil particles in underground root zones.
10. Improved soil tilth.
    No-till reduces soil particle aggregation, making it easier for water to move through the soil. Plants can more easily establish their root systems. Intensive tillage compresses and shears soil aggregates, increasing the risk of compaction, erosion and runoff.
11. Increased wildlife food and habitat.
    Crop residues left by no-till offer shelter and food for birds and small animals.
12. Reduced air pollution.
    Intensive tillage releases soil carbon into the atmosphere as C02, where it may contribute to the greenhouse effect. Crop residues associated with no-till hold soil carbon in the soil. No-till also radically reduces the amount of dust (wind erosion) produced by farming.

No-till farming works with nature. Just examine a fence row that is never plowed. You'll find no hard pans, just high levels of organic matter. Have you ever seen a fence row suffer during a drought? It is protected by a mulch of decaying vegetation and moist, loose soil.

Ninety percent of what it takes to achieve success with no-till is attitude.