Bethany Garmon
Snow Day #2
2015-2016
Farmers Put Down the Plow for More Productive Soil
To be used with the article entitled, “Farmers Put Down the Plow for More Productive Soil” by
Erica Goode for the New York Times. Students can retrieve this article from
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/10/science/farmers-put-down-the-plow-for-more-productivesoil.html?_r=0
Common Core Standards: AG-ENV 3, AG-PL 1
Farmers Put Down the Plow for More Productive Soil
By ERICA GOODEMARCH 9, 2015
Cattle graze on farmland owned by Terry McAlister, near Electra, Tex. Mr. McAlister converted
to no-till farming for its apparent economic benefits. Credit Brandon Thibodeaux for The New
York Times
FORT WORTH — Gabe Brown is in such demand as a speaker that for every invitation he
accepts, he turns down 10 more. At conferences, like the one held here at a Best Western hotel
recently, people line up to seek his advice.
“The greatest roadblock to solving a problem is the human mind,” he tells audiences.
Mr. Brown, a balding North Dakota farmer who favors baseball caps and red-striped polo shirts,
is not talking about disruptive technology start-ups, political causes, or the latest self-help fad.
He is talking about farming, specifically soil-conservation farming, a movement that promotes
leaving fields untilled, “green manures” and other soil-enhancing methods with an almost
evangelistic fervor.
Such farming methods, which mimic the biology of virgin land, can revive degenerated earth,
minimize erosion, encourage plant growth and increase farmers’ profits, their proponents say.
And by using them, Mr. Brown told more than 250 farmers and ranchers who gathered at the
hotel for the first Southern Soil Health Conference, he has produced crops that thrive on his
5,000-acre farm outside of Bismarck, N.D., even during droughts or flooding.
“My goal is to improve my soil so I can grow a better
crop so I can make more money,” said Mr. McAlister,
who farms 6,000 acres of drought-stricken cropland.
Credit Brandon Thibodeaux for The New York Times
Farmers Put Down the Plow for More Productive Soil
Page 1
Bethany Garmon
Snow Day #2
2015-2016
He no longer needs to use nitrogen fertilizer or fungicide, he said, and he produces yields that
are above the county average with less labor and lower costs. “Nature can heal if we give her
the chance,” Mr. Brown said.
Neatly tilled fields have long been a hallmark of American agriculture and its farmers, by and
large traditionalists who often distrust practices that diverge from time-honored methods.
But soil-conservation farming is gaining converts as growers increasingly face extreme weather,
high production costs, a shortage of labor and the threat of government regulation of
agricultural pollution.
Farmers like Mr. Brown travel the country telling their stories, and organizations like No-Till on
the Plains — a Kansas-based nonprofit devoted to educating growers about “agricultural
production systems that model nature” — attract thousands.
“It’s a massive paradigm shift,” said Ray Archuleta, an agronomist at the Natural Resources
Conservation Service, part of the federal Agriculture Department, which endorses the soilconservation approach.
Government surveys suggest that the use of no-tillage farming has grown sharply over the last
decade, accounting for about 35 percent of cropland in the United States.
For some crops, no-tillage acreage has nearly doubled in the last 15 years. For soybeans, for
example, it rose to 30 million acres in 2012 from 16.5 million acres in 1996. The planting of
cover crops — legumes and other species that are rotated with cash crops to blanket the soil
year-round and act as green manure — has also risen in acreage about 30 percent a year,
according to surveys, though the total remains small.
Farmers till the land to ready it for sowing and to churn weeds and crop residue back into the
earth. Tilling also helps mix in fertilizers and manure and loosens the top layer of the soil.
But repeated plowing exacts a price. It degrades soil, killing off its biology, including beneficial
fungi and earthworms, and leaving it, as Mr. Archuleta puts it, “naked, thirsty, hungry and
running a fever.”
Degraded soil requires heavy applications of synthetic fertilizer to produce high yields. And
because its structure has broken down, the soil washes away easily in heavy rain, taking
nitrogen and other pollutants with it into rivers and streams.
Soil health proponents say that by leaving fields unplowed and using cover crops, which act as
sinks for nitrogen and other nutrients, growers can increase the amount of organic matter in
their soil, making it better able to absorb and retain water.
Farmers Put Down the Plow for More Productive Soil
Page 2
Bethany Garmon
Snow Day #2
2015-2016
Mr. McAlister uses cover crops, like this white turnip, to preserve water and prevent erosion on
his farm. Credit Brandon Thibodeaux for The New York Times
“Each 1 percent increase in soil organic matter helps soil hold 20,000 gallons more water per
acre,” said Claire O’Connor, a staff lawyer and agriculture specialist at the Natural Resources
Defense Council.
In turn, more absorbent soil is less vulnerable
to runoff and more resistant to droughts and
floods. Cover crops also help suppress weeds.
Environmental groups like the Defense
Council have long been fans of soilconservation techniques because they help
protect waterways and increase the ability of
soil to store carbon dioxide, rather than
releasing it into the air, where it contributes
to climate change.
One recent study led by the Environmental Defense Fund suggested that the widespread use of
cover crops and other soil-health practices could reduce nitrogen pollution in the Upper
Mississippi and Ohio River basins by 30 percent, helping to shrink the giant “dead zone” of
oxygen-depleted water in the Gulf of Mexico. The Defense Council, Ms. O’Connor said, has
proposed that the government offer a “good driver” discount on federal crop insurance for
growers who incorporate the practices.
But the movement also has critics, who argue that no-tillage and other methods are impractical
and too expensive for many growers. A farmer who wants to shift to no-tillage, for example,
must purchase new equipment, like a no-till seeder.
Tony J. Vyn, a professor of agronomy at Purdue, said the reasons growers cite for preferring to
fully till their fields vary depending on geography, the types of crops they grow and the
conditions of their soil. But they include the perception that weed control is harder using notillage; that the method, which reduces water evaporation, places limits on how early in the
year crops can be planted; and that the residue left by no-tilling is too difficult to deal with,
especially when corn is the primary cash crop.
Even farmers who enthusiastically adopt no-till and other soil-conservation methods rarely do
so for environmental reasons; their motivation is more pragmatic.
Farmers Put Down the Plow for More Productive Soil
Page 3
Bethany Garmon
Snow Day #2
2015-2016
“My goal is to improve my soil so I can grow a better crop so I can make more money,” said
Terry McAlister, who farms 6,000 acres of drought-stricken cropland in North Texas. “If I can
help the environment in the process, fine, but that’s not my goal.”
For years, Mr. McAlister plowed his fields, working with his father, who began farming outside
the town of Electra in the 1950s. But he began having doubts about the effects of constant
tilling on the soil.
“We were farming cotton like the West Texas guys were, just plow, plow, plow,” he said. “And if
you got a rain, it just washed it and eroded it.
“It made me sick,” he said. “You’re asking yourself, ‘Is there not a better way?’ But at the time,
we didn’t know.”
Mr. McAlister said that he switched to no-tillage in 2005, when an agricultural economist
calculated that the method offered a $15-per-acre advantage over full tilling.
Mr. McAlister with bags of seed he will be planting on his farm. Credit Brandon Thibodeaux for
The New York Times
Now he is a convert. Standing in a field of winter wheat, he pointed proudly at the thick blanket
of stubble sprinkled with decaying radishes and turnips.
“One of the toughest things about learning to do no-till is having to unlearn all the things that
you thought were true,” he said.
Mr. McAlister grows cotton, wheat, hay, grain sorghum and some canola as cash crops, using a
GPS-guided no-till seeder that drills through residue, allowing him to plant precisely and
effectively.
He credits no-tillage for one of his biggest wheat crops, in 2012, when extreme drought left
farmers throughout the region struggling to salvage any harvest. His healthier soil, he believes,
made better use of the tiny amount of rain that fell than did the fully tilled fields of other
farmers.
But few growers go as far as Mr. Brown in North Dakota, who produces grass-fed beef and has
given up most agricultural chemicals. Mr. McAlister, for example, still uses nitrogen fertilizer.
He plants seeds that are genetically modified for drought or herbicide resistance. And he
depends on herbicides like Roundup to kill off his cover crops before sowing the crops he grows
for cash.
Farmers Put Down the Plow for More Productive Soil
Page 4
Bethany Garmon
Snow Day #2
2015-2016
The philanthropist Howard G. Buffett, a proponent of soil-conservation practices, said that the
drought and flooding that have plagued much of the country in recent years have drawn more
farmers to no-till.
“When you get into a drought, that gets everybody’s attention,” said Mr. Buffett, the middle
son of Warren E. Buffett, the billionaire investor. “Farmers don’t really change their behavior
until they see that they have to, which is pretty much human nature.”
The Environmental Protection Agency’s regulation of nutrient pollution in the Chesapeake Bay
under the Clean Water Act in 2010, Mr. Buffett said, should also be “a wake-up call that the
E.P.A. is coming soon” and if farmers do not address fertilizer runoff, the government will do it
for them.
Still, he said, reaping the benefits of no-tillage farming demands patience, given that it may take
several years for deadened soil to recover. Some farmers try no-tilling for one season and then
get discouraged. And there is no one-size-fits-all solution: Farmers must adapt what they have
learned to their own land and crops.
Mr. McAlister and other no-till farmers said that perhaps the biggest barrier to the spread of
no-till is the mind-set that farmers must do things the same way as earlier generations did
them.
“We have a saying in our area: ‘You can’t no-till because you haven’t buried your father yet,’”
Mr. McAlister said.
“You can’t take on an endeavor like this with someone leaning over your shoulder every day
telling you you’re wrong and it’s not going to work,” he said.
Farmers Put Down the Plow for More Productive Soil
Page 5
Bethany Garmon
Snow Day #2
2015-2016
Name: _________________________________ Date: _______________ Class Period: _____
Agricultural Literacy
“Farmers Put Down the Plow for More Productive Soil”
by Erica Goode for New York Times
Directions: Retrieve the article from http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/10/science/farmers-put-downthe-plow-for-more-productive-soil.html?_r=0. After reading the article, determine the BEST answer for
each of the following questions. Write the letter of the best answer in the blank provided.
1. _____ What is soil conservation farming?
A. Farming that promotes no till farming and various soil enhancement methods.
B. Farming that aims to conserve fossil fuels by using equipment powered with electricity.
C. Growing crowing crops that are drought tolerant and require little irrigation.
D. Growing crops without any commercial fertilizer.
2. _____ Proponents of soil conservation farming say it can revive degenerated soil, minimize erosion,
encourage plant growth, and raise farmers’ profits. A proponent is a(n)
A. soil specialist
B. enemy
C. supporter D. no till farmer
3. _____ The writer probably began the article with a description of Gabe Brown’s work to show that
A. most people think soil conversation farming is a joke.
B. a person who is unsuccessful at farming can become successful at speaking.
C. students can teach others about the benefits of soil conservation farming.
D. soil conservation farming is a fairly new idea, but farmers are interested in it.
4. _____ The writer believes that most farmers are
A. visionaries who want to try new farming methods as soon as they are developed.
B. traditionalists who don’t like to change from time-honored farming methods.
C. missing technology skills and have little or no understanding of computers.
D. environmentalists who don’t care about profits as long as they protect the land.
5. _____ What is the United States Department of Agriculture’s opinion of soil conservation farming?
A. USDA believes it is a waste of time.
B. USDA endorses soil conservation farming.
C. USDA pays farmer’s a subsidy if they use “green manure.”
D. USDA forces farmers to adopt soil conservation methods or pay fines.
6. _____ Terry McAlister, who farms 6,000 acres in Texas, believe no-till methods have given him a $15
per acre advantage over traditional full till methods. What is his total gain per season?
A. $9,000
B. $90,000
C. $400
D $40,000
Farmers Put Down the Plow for More Productive Soil
Page 6
Bethany Garmon
Snow Day #2
2015-2016
7. _____ Why do most farmers till the soil before planting?
A. Tilling mixes crop residue, weeds, and fertilizers into the soil and loosens the top layer.
B. Tilling kills harmful insects such as boll weevils.
C. Tilling helps the soil hold onto moisture after a rain shower.
D. Tilling the soil ensures neat rows that are easy to harvest.
8. _____ We can infer that “green manure” is
A. cow and chicken manure that has not decomposed.
B. an environmentally friendly form of “Triple 13” fertilizer.
C. a cover crop that helps put nutrients back into the soil.
D. manure that does not contain herbicides or pesticides.
9. _____ The article mentions several disadvantages of tilling the soil. Which of the following is NOT one
of them?
A. Tilling kills off helpful fungi and earthworms.
B. Tilling causes soil to need heavy applications of fertilizer.
C. Tilled soil is more likely to erode and wash fertilizers into streams.
D. Tilling destroys wildlife habitats, such as rabbit nests.
10. _____ How do no till farmers plant their crops?
A. After heavy rains, farmers broadcast seeds onto the stubble of old crops.
B. Farmers use special equipment to drill seeds through old crop residue and into the soil.
C. Farmers mix seeds into irrigation equipment so that the seeds are watered into the soil.
D. Special equipment lifts layers of crop stubble and slides new seeds underneath.
11._____ According to the article, which of the following statements is TRUE?
A. Farmers who practice soil conservation farming do not use nitrogen fertilizer.
B. Farmers who practice soil conservation farming must accept lower crop yields.
C. Farmers who switch to no till farming must also have access to expensive equipment.
D. Some farmers switch to no till because they believe it makes weed control more difficult.
12. _____ Howard G. Buffett said the Environmental Protection Agency’s regulation of nutrient pollution
in the Chesapeake Bay should be a “wake-up call that the EPA is coming soon.” What does this mean?
A. Buffett believes all waterways will be polluted, and the “dead zone” in the Mississippi River will grow.
B. Buffett believes farmers should use conservation methods because the EPA will eventually regulate all
fertilizer run off situations.
C. Buffett believes no till farming is the solution to the upcoming world food shortage, if farmers will use
“green manure.”
D. Buffett believes it is too late for soil conservation methods to improve the condition of America’s soil
and streams.
Farmers Put Down the Plow for More Productive Soil
Page 7
Bethany Garmon
Snow Day #2
2015-2016
OPEN RESPONSE
Using information from the article, describe four benefits of soil conservation farming methods such as
no till planting.
Farmers Put Down the Plow for More Productive Soil
Page 8