{"id":12555,"date":"2021-03-12T08:46:53","date_gmt":"2021-03-12T13:46:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/?p=12555"},"modified":"2025-05-13T16:55:10","modified_gmt":"2025-05-13T20:55:10","slug":"conservation-tillage-impact-expenses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/2021\/03\/12\/conservation-tillage-impact-expenses\/","title":{"rendered":"Understanding the impact of conservation tillage on operating expenses"},"content":{"rendered":"

This blog was originally published by Dr. Maria Bowman on Soil Health Partnership’s blog<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

When farmers consider implementing a soil health or conservation practice on their farm, one question they inevitably ask is: what will the financial impacts be?<\/p>\n

In an effort to answer this question, we recently released Conservation\u2019s Impact on the Farm Bottom Line<\/a> \u2014 a report developed in partnership with Environmental Defense Fund and the agricultural accounting firm K\u00b7Coe Isom \u2014 to better understand the benefits, opportunities and limiting factors associated with common conservation practices.<\/p>\n

One of the key findings from this report is that farmers can save money as part of a transition to conservation tillage<\/a>. In a world where the farm economy can be uncertain and a changing climate can create unforeseen weather challenges<\/a>, reducing costs of production<\/a> by tilling less may be one way for farmers to improve profitability.<\/p>\n

Net returns are higher in conservation tillage systems<\/strong><\/p>\n

In our detailed analysis of the financial records of seven Midwest grain farmers, we found that fields using no-till or some form of conservation tillage (for example strip-till or reduced tillage, depending on the farmer) achieved higher net returns per acre than conventionally tilled fields. In corn, this was a difference of $53 per acre and, in soybeans, the difference in net returns was $35 per acre.<\/p>\n

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Graphic showing differences in net returns for conservation and conventional tillage. A detailed breakdown of the financial records for farmers in our study can be found here.<\/a> (Photo credit: Soil Health Partnership)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The difference in net income for conservation tillage systems is driven by lower costs<\/strong><\/p>\n

Our analysis showed that improvements in net returns for systems using conservation tillage were driven by a reduction in overall costs. On average, expenses for corn fields under conservation tillage were more than $40 per acre less and nearly $100 per acre less for soybean fields (both as compared to conventionally tilled fields).<\/p>\n

Farmers saved on fuel, repairs, and equipment expenses \u2014 overall making conservation tillage systems more profitable than conventional tillage systems. For one of the farmers included in the study, Brian Ryberg of Minnesota<\/a>, the shift toward conservation tillage impacted profitability by:<\/p>\n