By DOUG GRAVES
Ohio Correspondent

LANCASTER, Ohio — The war between tillage versus no-till has been ongoing for more than a decade. Now, a third tillage system has entered the fray – ECO farming.

“ECO farming stands for the Eternal no-till, Continuous living cover and Other best management practices (BMPs),” said Jim Hoorman, assistant professor with The Ohio State University extension. “In order words, absolutely trying to eliminate tillage as much as possible.”

OSU extension, in conjunction with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the Ohio No-till Council, have developed this third method for farmers to consider. According to members of these organizations, it will become the way of farming in the 21st century.

Hoorman, Ray Archuleta (NRCS’ East National Technology Service Center), Dave Brandt (Ohio No-till Council president) and Mark Scarpiti (Ohio NRCS agronomist) collectively defined the ECO concept. The team has held a series of field days in the state throughout August, the final one last week at the farm of Jeff Rasawehr in Celina. Two other gatherings were held in Celina.
“Our goal is not just about cover crops or the push for no-till, it’s all about soil health,” Scarpiti said. “No-till just happens to be one of the major tools used to get to soil health.

“The combination of no-till and cover crops gets up into good soil health as quickly as possible. When you look at the microorganisms and how they interact in the soil, you understand that we’re trying to mimic what Mother Nature is doing. No-till allows the soil to repair itself.”

“Continuous living cover means that farmers try to keep a living crop on the soil 100 percent of the time,” Archuleta said. “Examples include grain crops followed by cover crops, pasture or hay systems or perennial plants.”
Other BMPs include the concept of controlled traffic, water table management where applicable, manure management and integrated pest management (IPM). “The goal is to use an integrated system of conservation practices to solve environmental nutrient issues associated with hypoxia and eutrophication, to improve water quality,” Scarpiti said.

Brandt has been practicing the concept on his Fairfield County farm over the past 15 years.

“I have reduced my fertilizer inputs by 50 to 70 percent, herbicide costs by 50 percent and reduced my fuel consumption,” he said, “all while adding soil organic matter which improved my soil health and increased by crops’ yields over the past 15 years.”

According to Hoorman, ECO farming seeks to better work with nature than against it.

“This system closely mimics natural cycles in virgin soils by feeding the microbes,” said Hoorman, also an agriculture and natural resources educator for extension. “You have 1,000 to 2,000 times more microbes associated with live roots.”

Plants supply 25-40 percent of their carbohydrate reserves to feeding the microbes, which in turn recycle nitrogen, phosphorous and water back to the plant roots. This natural process improves soil structure and increases water infiltration and water storage.

All three innovators of ECO farming say this method is economically viable, ecologically sound and environmentally sustainable. “For 100 to 200 years, farmers have been tilling the soil and basically mining it of nutrients, destroying soil structure and losing 60 to 80 percent of soil organic matter,” Archuleta said.

“Now we can use advanced knowledge of soils, soil health and soil ecology to work with Mother Nature, rather than against her.”