{"id":64173,"date":"2025-05-08T01:00:27","date_gmt":"2025-05-08T08:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/civileats.com\/?p=64173"},"modified":"2025-05-07T16:58:22","modified_gmt":"2025-05-07T23:58:22","slug":"why-most-no-till-agriculture-is-not-actually-regenerative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/civileats.com\/2025\/05\/08\/why-most-no-till-agriculture-is-not-actually-regenerative\/","title":{"rendered":"Op-ed: Why Most No-Till Agriculture Is Not Actually Regenerative"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/div><div class=\"post-simple post-capital-letter\"><p>I sat down to write this piece after a five-inch April snowstorm gave our newly planted wheat fields their first drink of the season. Wheat is one of five crops we raise on our farm just outside Belgrade, Montana, that work in rotation to help build our soils, minimize weeds, and produce high yields\u2014all without using expensive and toxic synthetic fertilizers, herbicides, and insecticides.<\/p><\/div><div class=\"post-simple\">\n<p>We also grow flax, yellow peas, alfalfa, and durum; you might have seen our peas and durum in Annie\u2019s mac &amp; cheese. Our flax is grown for seed and also ends up in bulk bins at grocery stores, our durum is made into pasta, and our alfalfa keeps organic dairy cows producing delicious milk, butter, and cream.<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-quote\"><p>&#8220;As the term &#8216;regenerative&#8217; has gained ground, many have lost sight of the fact that organic is the oven-ready set of standards to define regenerative ag.&#8221; <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>When I started my first-generation farm in 2004, I dove head first into regenerative practices, partly out of interest in the fascinating agronomy, but mostly out of necessity. If I was going to make a career in farming, producing high yields without expensive inputs would be my only way towards profitability.<\/p>\n<p>As regenerative agriculture has gained steam in <a href=\"https:\/\/civileats.com\/2018\/02\/13\/no-till-farmers-push-for-healthy-soils-ignites-a-movement-in-the-plains\/\">recent years<\/a>, I\u2019ve been thinking about its potential and how important it is that we direct the energy behind it towards real solutions. Since there\u2019s no set definition of the term, I\u2019ve seen \u201cregenerative\u201d increasingly being <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bayer.com\/en\/agriculture\/regenerative-agriculture-definition\">used<\/a> to describe practices most farmers can agree don\u2019t regenerate much soil.<\/p>\n<p>The idea of \u201cno-till\u201d has become nearly synonymous with \u201cregenerative\u201d agriculture, the farming practice of reducing tillage and plowing. A <a href=\"http:\/\/www.foe.org\/no-till-report\">new report<\/a> from Friends of the Earth sheds some light on why this is concerning. It shows that, while no-till can be done without harmful chemicals, most no-till systems are so <a href=\"https:\/\/civileats.com\/2019\/09\/05\/with-regenerative-agriculture-booming-the-question-of-pesticide-use-looms-large\/\">dependent on herbicides<\/a> to manage weeds\u2014since a key reason farmers till their soil is to get rid of weeds\u2014that a full one-third of the U.S.\u2019s total annual pesticide use can be attributed to no- and minimum-till corn and soy production alone. (The term \u201cpesticide\u201d includes herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides.)<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-image-caption align-right\"><a href=\"https:\/\/civileats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-1217672979-pesticide-spray.jpg\" rel=\"lightbox\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/civileats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-1217672979-pesticide-spray.jpg\" alt=\"Spraying machine working on the green field Spraying Field with Herbicides and Pesticides GMO Fertylizer. Tractor Working in Field.\"><\/a><div class=\"post-caption\"><p>A tractor sprays pesticides on a farm. (Photo credit: sircco, Getty Images) <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>This impacts a lot of land. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) data shows that 107 million acres\u2014about 60 percent of both <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nass.usda.gov\/Surveys\/Guide_to_NASS_Surveys\/Chemical_Use\/2021_Field_Crops\/chemhighlights-corn.pdf\">corn<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nass.usda.gov\/Surveys\/Guide_to_NASS_Surveys\/Chemical_Use\/2023_Barley_Oats_Peanuts_Soybeans\/ChemHighlights-Soybeans-2023.pdf\">soy<\/a>\u2014are under no- or minimum-till management. The report\u2019s analysis of USDA data shows that 93 percent of those acres use <a href=\"https:\/\/civileats.com\/2024\/10\/22\/report-casts-doubt-on-safety-of-new-roundup-products\/\">herbicides<\/a> linked to health and environmental risks, like <a href=\"https:\/\/civileats.com\/2025\/04\/08\/bayers-effort-to-block-roundup-lawsuits-kicks-into-high-gear\/\">Roundup.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>This means the majority of no-till farming in this country is focused on herbicides, not regeneration. These chemicals <a href=\"https:\/\/foe.org\/soil-health\/\">devastate soil life<\/a>\u2014the microbes and bugs that farmers need to regenerate soil and to build resilience to droughts and floods. And they threaten our health, with scientists <a href=\"https:\/\/civileats.com\/2013\/08\/09\/pesticides-taking-toll-on-farmworkers\/\">linking<\/a> them to cancer, birth defects, infertility, and more.<\/p>\n<p>No-till corn also uses a massive amount of synthetic fertilizers that can harm soil life and our health\u2014about 7.6 billion pounds each year.<\/p>\n<p>On top of that, the report shows conventional no-till farming is <em>not <\/em>scientifically linked to increasing <a href=\"https:\/\/carbonplan.org\/research\/soil-depth-sampling\">carbon in the soil<\/a>, despite most investment in no-till as \u201cregenerative\u201d being based on the faulty assumption that it is.<\/p>\n<p>If conventional no-till is not regenerative, then what is? The key question is not \u201cto till or not to till.\u201d A narrow focus on single practices like tillage is misleading. Truly regenerative agriculture works with the farming system as a whole. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.researchgate.net\/profile\/Paula-Perez-Rodriguez\/publication\/358039841_The_impact_of_crop_diversification_tillage_and_fertilization_type_on_soil_total_microbial_fungal_and_bacterial_abundance_A_worldwide_meta-analysis_of_agricultural_sites\/links\/61ec5de69a753545e2ee2dde\/The-impact-of-crop-diversification-tillage-and-fertilization-type-on-soil-total-microbial-fungal-and-bacterial-abundance-A-worldwide-meta-analysis-of-agricultural-sites.pdf\">Research<\/a> shows that careful tillage in holistic farming systems can achieve better soil outcomes than chemical-intensive no-till systems.<\/p>\n<p>Reducing tillage has its benefits and should be a target in all farming systems. Tillage tools available today are vastly improved over those available to farmers in the 1980s. Reducing tillage also saves time, steel, and fuel, helping improve farmers\u2019 bottom line. Less tillage means less soil erosion and greater soil water-holding capacity. But as a farmer for more than two decades, I can say that in order to truly address soil health, supporting organic farming is a better path than a sole focus on no-till.<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-quote\"><p>&#8220;It\u2019s not farmers\u2019 fault that chemical-intensive agriculture predominates in the U.S.\u2014that\u2019s what our public policies and markets support.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>When I purchased my first cows at age 12 as an offshoot of a 4H project, I quickly realized that I needed to find a market that adds value. As I built my operation and found markets, the demand for certified organic crops and beef offered a consistent premium I couldn\u2019t ignore.<\/p>\n<p>Later, as I expanded from 10 acres to over 1,000, I was able to grow my operation not only because of premium markets, but also because I didn\u2019t have to navigate the expense of high fertilizer and herbicide bills\u2014these synthetic inputs are prohibited in organic production. Not only do I have a healthy business, I have a healthier community, because my neighbors, my employees, and I have avoided exposure to many known toxic chemicals.<\/p>\n<p>Some people have the misconception that organic <em>can\u2019t <\/em>be regenerative because organic farmers use tillage to manage weeds and soil fertility. As the term \u201cregenerative\u201d has gained ground, many have lost sight of the fact that organic is the oven-ready set of standards to define regenerative ag. The organic standard includes <a href=\"https:\/\/ofrf.org\/organic-is-regenerative\/\">pillars of soil health<\/a> and provides an enforcement mechanism to ensure regenerative practices are actually implemented on the farm.<\/p>\n<p>Decades of <a href=\"http:\/\/foe.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Organic-is-Regenerative-Science-Brief-Final.pdf\">research shows<\/a> that organic farming is one of the most comprehensive and time-tested ways to build healthy soils and protect the natural resources we need to grow food for ourselves and future generations, from helping pollinators thrive to preserving clean water. And unlike \u201cregenerative,\u201d the definition of organic is enforced through a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ecfr.gov\/current\/title-7\/subtitle-B\/chapter-I\/subchapter-M\/part-205?toc=1\">rigorous legal standard.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>This is a critical moment for agriculture here in Montana for my farm, and across the country. The fact that so many farmers have adopted no-till practices is indisputable evidence they\u2019re interested in protecting their soil. It\u2019s not farmers\u2019 fault that chemical-intensive agriculture predominates in the U.S.\u2014that\u2019s what our public policies and markets support.<\/p>\n<p>If we\u2019re serious about regeneration and making America healthy, companies and policymakers need to help farmers thrive by investing in reduction of harmful, expensive inputs in conventional farming systems while expanding organic agriculture in our country.<\/p>\n<div class='ctx-module-container ctx_default_placement ctx-clearfix'><\/div><span class=\"ctx-article-root\"><!-- --><\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We also grow flax, yellow peas, alfalfa, and durum; you might have seen our peas and durum in Annie\u2019s mac &amp; cheese. Our flax is grown for seed and also ends up in bulk bins at grocery stores, our durum is made into pasta, and our alfalfa keeps organic dairy cows producing delicious milk, butter, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1389,"featured_media":64176,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4303,4479,3265,12433],"tags":[],"coauthors":[43613],"class_list":["post-64173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary","category-farming","category-pesticides","category-regenerative-agriculture"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.6 (Yoast SEO v25.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Op-ed: Why Most No-Till Agriculture Is Not Actually Regenerative | Civil Eats<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The majority of no-till farming 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