A recent opinion article by Dana Milbank that appeared a few days ago in the Washington Post newspaper caught my eye. His headline, “After 10,000 years, let’s bury the plow.” He went on to discuss no-till farming, a method of farming we in this area know something about.
His article encompasses a period 10,000 years to remind us of stories of tillage found in that span of time. His examples gave me impetus to dig for information and reminisce. He first referred to the book of Isaiah in the Bible. On the surface level we know this man to be a Bible prophet who lived in the 8th century BCE. By the way, BCE stands for Before the Common Era which is more sensitive to the non-Christian folks as opposed to BC which stands for Before Christ. Isaiah’s take on the situation looks ahead to a future where peace will reign supreme. Then swords will no longer be needed, but plows will be. Melt the swords and make plows.
His second example talked of a man named Cincinnatus. To quote, “In ancient Rome, Cincinnatus resigned as dictator to return to his plow.” I’ve always enjoyed the history of ancient Rome and remember the figure of Cincinnatus. In a nutshell he was called to Rome to lead the Roman army against an enemy. He led them to victory after which the government tried to crown him dictator. He refused, instead returning to his small farm where he wished to live and work.
Our country has its own Cincinnatus story. George Washington served two terms as president of the United States. He refused to run for a third term in 1796, an office he probably could have had with a nod of his head. He returned to his home at Mount Vernon to live out his days. He was aged and tired and feared that dying in office would look like serving a lifetime appointment. Two presidential terms became a standard, that is until FDR served three full terms and part of a fourth. The 22nd Amendment now prevents that from happening.
The interesting character of the Plowman added to the mix brought memories of high school English classes when we read Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. The Plowman’s Tale added a character to the variety of people who appear as a mix of good and evil. Their virtues and vices reflect the complexity of human nature. The Plowman rides a humble mare but embodies a high level of morality because he does not pretend to be someone he is not.
The gist of this article so far has been about humble people who work the soil. I grew up when the moldboard plow reigned. Power increased and they kept adding bottoms to the plow until they seemed to hit a limit of practicality. Some of those plows found themselves parked in the tree grove where they rust-away. The idea of no-till caught on. In my subscription to the Successful Farming magazine I’ve found many past articles where the topic of no-till was covered.
One man from Williamsport, Indiana told of his experience with no-till that pretty much blends in with most thought about the method. He said he got fed up with soil blowing and washing off his farm due to tillage and decided it was time to try something different. He stopped tilling and started growing cover crops. He became a a no-till, certified organic producer growing corn, soybeans, winter wheat, alfalfa, buckwheat, and peas on 7,000 acres. Every acre has cover crops. Back to Dana Milbank’s premise no-till farming reduces need for fertilizers and pesticides, and promotes soil health and biodiversity.
The concept of no-till seems to be more in harmony with nature. Speaking of that I remember a conservative farming system called the Three Sisters. The ancient Native Americans practiced growing corn, beans, and squash together. The plants support each other and create a self-sustaining ecosystem. It’s simple yet quite sophisticated. The corn provides a trellis for the beans to climb on. Beans fertilize the corn and squash by releasing nitrogen into the soil. The squash prevents weeds, shades the soil, and protects the other plants. The yield from this system furnished much of their nutritional needs.
Milbank managed to find some statistics regarding the matter of no-till. He found that in 1973 over 82 percent of U.S. cropland was in conventional tillage with only two percent being no-till. Fifty years later only 27 percent used conventional tillage. It really caught on these later years when conventional tillage dropped by 8 percent alone. If we accept his numbers we see quite a change taking place in our farming techniques. The average farmer knows much more about this than I do, and if anyone wants more information simply ask one of your farmer acquaintances.
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