May 18, 2023 - Written By Shelley Swearingen
INDIANA IMPLEMENTING SOIL CONSERVATION EFFORTS STATEWIDE
Indiana is embracing recommended soil conservation practices in a major way. In 2019, 71% of corn acres and 76% of soybean acres were planted using no till or strip till practices in Indiana. Indiana farmers also used cover crops on roughly 950,000 aces in 2019.
The use of these practices resulted in the prevention of millions of pounds of runoff entering Indiana waterways:
This ‘trend’ is not exclusive to Indiana. Nationwide, no-till practices were used on 104 million acres in 2017. That exceeds double the amount from 2000: 51 million acres. Cover crops were seeded on 15.3 million acres in 2017.
Cover crops and no till/minimized till practices have been proven to work. Not only do these methods conserve the land, but they improve soil quality. And what does improved soil quality mean for landowners & farmers? Improved soil quality means higher yields, and higher yields means higher values assigned to farmland.