TY - JOUR T1 - Strategies for soil conservation in no-tillage and organic farming systems JF - Journal of Soil and Water Conservation SP - 144A LP - 144A VL - 62 IS - 6 AU - John R. Teasdale Y1 - 2007/11/01 UR - http://www.jswconline.org/content/62/6/144A.abstract N2 - No-tillage cropping systems are known to provide many benefits to soils that can enhance production of grain crops. Many of the improvements to soils that result from no-tillage production such as increases in soil aggregation, water-holding capacity nutrient cycling, and biological activity are related to increases in soil organic matter. No-tillage systems are known to increase soil organic matter because of the absence of destructive tillage operations, the minimization of soil erosion losses, and the return of crop residue to the soil. Organic matter can be further enhanced by the addition of cover crops, perennial crops, and organic amendments into no-tillage rotations. Organic farmers share many of the same goals for building soil organic matter, fertility, and the capacity for supporting soil biological activity and productivity as no-tillage farmers. In organic farming this is achieved through integrated systems that maintain living vegetation cover, return vegetative residue back to soils, and add organic amendments from external sources as needed. The dilemma for organic farmers is that these approaches for increasing soil organic matter also require tillage. Specifically tillage is required (1) to eliminate perennial legumes or winter annual cover crops before planting annual crops, (2 … ER -