Benefits of no-till farming proven through 40 years of research

6th September 2007

A review of more than 35 years of data on the impact of cropping on water and nutrient run-off has confirmed that no-till farming has significant yield and environmental benefits - but there are some soil types where it is less suited than others.

With support from colleagues, the work has been done by Dr David Freebairn, a member of the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) Northern Panel and long-term former staff member of the Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Water.

It's been possible thanks to a Land & Water Australia Senior Research Fellowship - a grant allowing a year off from 'normal' job stresses to concentrate on research, making use of existing data and new analysis approaches.

"Without the Fellowship, these valuable findings may never have been pulled together, and the insights would have been lost," Dr Freebairn said.

The data came from research including a 17 year catchment study near Wallumbilla that finished in 2000 and 42 years of results from a long-term project near Theodore that's still going, comparing hydrology and water quality when Brigalow scrub is cleared and put to pasture or cropping.

Dr Freebairn said there is definitely more water run-off from land that has been cleared and cropped, compared to wooded areas. In most landscapes there is more runoff from cropland compared to pasture, although this does vary.

"However, the grains industry is to be congratulated for its adoption of no-till farming, which has been shown to cut the nutrients and soil lost to run-off by 90 percent.

"This means the quality of the water moving downstream through the catchment is significantly cleaner. It's gone from resembling Milo 30 years ago to chardonnay!

"On top of that, there's a 10 percent average increase in yields associated with reduced tillage farming systems, and much greater in drier seasons. This is a consistent result from a synthesis of 12 trials covering 150 site years of data."

Dr Freebairn said the benefits are clear, and any farmers not already using no-till really should be asking questions about how it might work on their property.

"On the other hand, some of the findings have highlighted the impact of not having cover, such as in recent years when drought has resulted in failed crops, or after grazing, sunflowers and chickpeas.

"In these cases, roughness created by cultivation is actually better than flat bare ground," Dr Freebairn said.