Uniformly emerging corn no-tilled into corn residue.

Long-term no-till more profitable than tilled

An economic analysis of these plots was conducted in the year 2000, the 20th year of the study, to evaluate the effects of tillage on profitability. Using the custom rates for field operations, existing management inputs, and prices for 2000, expenses were calculated for each tillage system, not including taxes, insurance, and land costs, for both the soybeans (see Table 1, below) and the grain sorghum (see Table 2, below). Using the actual yields and the October 1 price for each year from 1983 to 2000, grain sales income (without government payments) was estimated. Subtracting year 2000 expenses from each individual year's income gave an estimated "return to land and management "for each year. These results and the yields are summarized in the lower half of Tables 1 and 2 for the soybeans and grain sorghum, respectively.

The return for a no-till grain sorghum/soybean rotation was $144 per acre, about $40 an acre more profitable than the typical double disk system return of $104. This was a combination of lower input costs because of the reduced tillage and higher yields because of water conservation. Similar comparisons can be made with the other tillage systems. Though not included in this analysis, the typical rental rate in the area was about $70 per acre for dryland cropland during this time period. The double-disk system's return to land and management was below $70 an acre three years for soybeans and seven years for grain sorghum in the years from 1983 to 2000. While for the same time period, the no-till's return was only below $70 an acre one year for each crop, making it easier to make the rent payment.

Better management, improved equipment, new herbicide programs, and many other changes over time have made no-till even easier and more profitable than when this study was started. This is in addition to the higher yields from the improved soil structure and moisture conservation from the use of continuous no-till. The yields since the year 2000 are shown in Table 3 (below) for soybeans and in Table 4 (below) for grain sorghum and corn. One set of these plots will remain in a grain sorghum/soybean rotation, while the other will become a corn/soybean rotation. (For a discussion of the yields for each of these years, see the Crop Watch Archives for annual stories and yield reports.)

While these results are of one set of plots at one location, the 25-year history is fairly consistent with other long-term studies and with producer experiences with continuous no-till. By parking the tillage tools and allowing soil structure to mend from the damage of years of tillage, no-till benefits become greater as time goes on. For this study in eastern Nebraska, consistent improvements in yield of no-till over tilled were seen after five years. For areas further west or in years with lesser rainfall, where water conservation becomes more important, yield benefits occur much sooner. Regardless of location, the reduction of the costs associated with tillage usually results in improved profitability as producers switch to no-till. Properly managed, continuous no-till allows the soil structure, infiltration, and soil biological health to improve, greatly increasing yields and profits.

Paul J. Jasa
Extension Engineer

Table 1. Economic Analysis and yhields for soybeans in the long-term tillage study at the UNL Rogers Memorial Farm, 1993-2000, using year 2000 estimated costs.

Operation or item	Cost, $/A for each tillage system
	Fall Plow	Chisel	Disk-Disk	Disk	No till wC	No till
Shred	6.00	6.00
Plow	12.00
Chisel		10.00
Pre Spray	4.00	4.00	4.00	4.00	4.00	4.00
Disk	7.00	7.00	7.00	7.00
Disk	7.00		7.00
Plant	10.00	10.00	10.00	10.00	10.00	10.00
Post1 Spray	4.00	4.00	4.00	4.00	4.00	4.00
Cultivate	6.00	6.00	6.00	6.00	6.00
Post2 Spray	4.00	4.00	4.00	4.00	4.00	4.00
Combine	20.00	20.00	20.00	20.00	20.00	20.00
Seed	23.00	23.00	23.00	23.00	23.00	23.00
Pre Chem	7.00	7.00	7.00	7.00	7.00	7.00
Post1 Chem	7.50	7.50	7.50	7.50	7.50	7.50
Post2 Chem	7.50	7.50	7.50	7.50	7.50	7.50
Expenses	125.00	116.00	107.00	100.00	93.00	87.00
Int (7%)	7.35	6.72	6.09	5.60	5.11	4.69
Total Expenses	132.35	122.72	113.09	105.60	98.11	91.69
Actual soybean yield times October 1 price each year (1983 to 2000) and subtract 2000 costs to calculate Return to Land and Management Min, Max, and Average (without any government, insurance, or program payments) in $/A.
	Fall Plow	Chisel	Disk-Disk	Disk	No till wC	No till
Min	26.61	41.81	48.37	46.21	72.50	69.99
Max	216.32	239.65	235.58	267.04	293.03	301.50
Average	91.69	115.34	123.56	136.51	154.94	161.26
Yield Range (1983-2000)	bu/A
Min	23.24	29.70	27.60	28.20	29.30	29.30
Max	52.10	54.60	53.70	55.20	57.10	57.40
Average	40.39	43.13	42.89	43.88	45.93	45.96

Table 2. Economic analysis and yields for grain sorghum in the long-term tillage study at the Rogers Memorial Farm for the years 1983 to 2000 using the year 2000 estimated costs.

Operation or item	Cost, $/A for each tillage system
	Fall Plow	Chisel	Disk-Disk	Disk	No till wC	No till
Shred	6.00	6.00
Plow	12.00
Chisel		10.00
Fertilize	7.00	7.00	7.00	7.00	7.00	7.00
Pre Spray	4.00	4.00	4.00	4.00	4.00	4.00
Disk	7.00	7.00	7.00	7.00
Disk	7.00		7.00
Plant	10.00	10.00	10.00	10.00	10.00	10.00
Cultivate	6.00	6.00	6.00	6.00	6.00
Post1 Spray	4.00	4.00	4.00	4.00	4.00	4.00
Combine	20.00	20.00	20.00	20.00	20.00	20.00
Seed	7.50	7.50	7.50	7.50	7.50	7.50
Pre Chem	13.00	13.00	13.00	13.00	13.00	13.00
Post1 Chem	10.00	10.00	10.00	10.00	10.00	10.00
Fertilizer	14.40	14.40	14.40	14.40	14.40	14.40
Starter	7.00	7.00	7.00	7.00	7.00	7.00
Expenses	129.40	120.40	117.40	110.40	103.40	97.40
Int (7%)	7.66	7.03	6.82	6.33	5.84	5.42
Total Expenses	137.06	127.43	124.22	116.73	109.24	102.82
Actual grain sorghum yield times October 1 price each year (1983 to 2000) and subtract 2000 costs to calculate Return to Land and Management Min, Max, and Average (without any government, insurance, or program payments) in $/A.
	Fall Plow	Chisel	Disk-Disk	Disk	No till wC	No till
Min	47.78	16.21	9.70	8.73	38.66	50.18
Max	170.00	185.05	172.86	190.76	201.51	211.83
Average	72.80	89.25	84.79	101.44	112.90	126.88
Yield Range (1983-2000)	bu/A
Min	61.15	76.18	66.40	73.97	72.50	75.00
Max	152.10	149.40	147.30	146.60	148.70	149.30
Average	108.59	112.25	108.80	112.97	115.55	119.52

Table 3. Soybean yields for the long-term tillage study at the Rogers Memorial Farm for the years 2000 to 2005.

Tillage System	Yield for each year, bu/ac
	2000	2001	2002*	2003	2004	2005
Fall Plow, Disk, Disk	23.2	44.6	10.9	38.2	65.3	48.3
Fall Chisel, Disk	36.2	44.7	15.5	38.3	65.1	51.2
Disk, Disk	36.1	44.8	15.6	37.0	66.6	50.0
Disk	41.8	44.2	17.1	38.6	67.6	49.5
No-till with Cultivation	43.8	42.5	16.8	41.4	65.1	55.4
No-till w/o Cultivation	47.7	50.0	17.8	44.1	68.3	59.2
* Severe hail six weeks before harvest stripped most of the leaves.

Table 4. Grain sorghum yields for the long-term tillage study at the Rogers Memorial Farm for the years 2000 to 2004 and corn yields for 2005.

Tillage System	Yield for each year, bu/ac
	2000	2001	2002*	2003	2004	2005 Corn
Fall Plow, Disk, Disk	61.2	120.0	34.8	123.0	152.8	183.6
Fall Chisel, Disk	76.2	115.8	41.8	119.6	143.6	185.7
Disk, Disk	78.4	120.1	42.9	110.3	144.7	187.6
Disk	74.0	116.2	42.0	121.5	150.5	194.3
No-till with Cultivation	107.7	121.2	48.8	124.2	148.4	181.1
No-till w/o Cultivation	121.4	124.1	64.6	128.3	129.9**	190.6
* Severe hail one week before harvest threshed out about one half of the yield.
** 146.1 bu/A without the reps with sandbur control problems.

Copyright 2006 by the University of Nebraska Board of Regents. All rights reserved.

Published by University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension in the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources Cooperating with the counties and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

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