Compare No-till farming to cover crops?

Question

Compare No-till farming to cover crops?

Answer 1

No till farming and cover crops have a lot in common but they are really different concepts.  No till farming doesn't turn the soil, thus keeps the old crop residue on the surface to help control soil erosion year around.  Cover crops are generally planted in the fall after the soil has been worked up after harvest.  It is grown through the winter to protect the soil from erosion.  It is either harvested in the spring before planting your main crop or turned under as a green manure crop.  The thing they have in common is that the both help protect the soil from erosion.  Where they are different is one does not use any tillage of the soil.  The other is based on a system that tills the soil.  Both are good concepts, and better than leaving the bare soil exposed during winter.  One thing I'm seeing more of lately since the concept of Roundup ready soybeans, is a system combining no till and (or minium tillage) with the use of a cover crop.  A crop, usually corn, is harvested in the fall and the land is worked up and a cover crop of wheat is planted.  In the Spring soybeans are no till planted in the wheat while it is still green and growing.  After two or three weeks when the soybeans are growing well they spray with round up to kill the wheat and it remains on top of the soil as crop residue as the soybeans keep growing.  The best of both systems.

Answer 2

what every one says is right, but it all depends on your system of farming, climate, cropping pattern etc.  Some times non till is used to cut costs there are so many different alternatives methods of inverting soil as opposed to ploughing, it is a cheaper faster way of establishing crops.  But it does more than just stop erosion  if you have a organic farm then cover crops help with the fertility and structure of your soil, mustard and clover are common crops for this purpose.  In the UK there has been a large shift over to non till and the machinery reflects this.

Answer 3

they both help control erosion