Study: No-Till Farming Reduces Greenhouse Gas Emissions

In the January edition of the Soil Science Society of America Journal, researchers at Purdue University published a report that found that cropland, left unplowed between planting seasons, significantly reduces the amount of nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas (GHG), released into the atmosphere compared to conventionally plowed fields.The federally funded study concluded that no-till farming can help counteract global warming, as well as help farmers use their costly nitrogen-based fertilizers more efficiently. Researchers looked at the amounts of nitrous oxide released by no-till fields and plowed fields for three years, and found that no-till fields released 57 percent and 40 percent, respectively, less nitrous oxide than two types of tilling called chisel tilling and moldboard tilling. 

The researchers also found that emissions were fewer in fields with rotating crops than fields planted only with one crop each year. Nitrous oxide contains 310 times the heat-trapping power of carbon dioxide and can remain in the atmosphere for 120 years. The findings represent another benefit to the practice of no-till farming, which has been shown to reduce erosion and improve soil quality. Sixty-eight percent of U.S. nitrous oxide emissions came from farmland in 2008, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

For additional information see: AP, Purdue Press Release, Study