Humans have been turning seeds and soil into food for thousands of years .
We first started cultivating edible plants at the end of the last Ice Age, roughly 12,000 years ago . Ploughing made this possible.
Ploughing , also known as tilling, is the process of turning over soil to bury weeds, loosen the earth and bring fresh nutrients to the surface.
But ploughing, particularly over long periods, can erode the soil and make it less healthy. This is where conservation-focused farming methods, including no-till farming, come in.
So what is no-till farming? And does it actually improve the soil?
Many ways to work the soil
Conventional farming involves sowing a crop into ploughed soil. Ploughing kills weeds that compete with crops for resources, such as water. It also buries weeds and dead plant material deep into the ground, where they are then broken down by bacteria and fungi .
Humans first ploughed the earth using curved wooden sticks known as ards . In Roman times, we invented the iron ploughs on which our modern moldboard ploughs are based.
But herbicides, which are chemicals that kill weeds, became much cheaper to buy from the mid-20th century. This allowed farmers to kill weeds without cultivating the soil. And it paved the way for the no-till farming movement.
Put simply, no-till farming is farming without disturbing the soil. No-till approaches use specialised machinery to sow directly into the plant waste that’s left once previous crops have been harvested, and any remaining weeds have been killed with chemicals.
The rise of no-till farming
No-till farming gained traction in the 1950s and 1960s as more people learnt of its potential benefits. These include:
limiting soil erosion , by shielding the surface of the soil from wind and rain
retaining soil moisture , by trapping it under a layer of crop waste
protecting the large holes in the soil, known as macropores , that allow water to seep into the soil
reducing our reliance on machinery such as disc ploughs and rotary hoes, and the fossil fuels needed to operate them .
Supporters of no-till farming also claim it boosts the amount of beneficial organisms and nutrients in the soil. They also say no-till farming improves water quality, reduces the risk of pests and diseases, and boosts farmer profits.
Digging deeper
However, there is a darker side to no-till farming. Here are three reasons why.
More harmful chemicals
No-till farmers must use much larger amounts of chemicals to destroy weeds that would otherwise be killed by tilling.
A 2025 report by Friends of the Earth
found the United States’ corn and soybean industries rely heavily on widespread chemical use to produce their crops, using no-till or minimum-till methods. Research has linked these chemicals with higher rates of cancer, birth defects, infertility and other medical conditions. However, any harmful effects will depend on how they are applied and in what doses.
These chemicals have also been shown to harm the health of animals that live in the soil. A recent meta-analysis examined nearly 400 studies about how chemicals used in no-till farming affect soil organisms, such as earthworms, beetles and mites. It found these chemicals affected how these animals bred and how long they lived in 70% of cases. Another recent study from Estonia suggests pesticide use is more harmful to soil microbes, including bacteria and fungi, than conventional tillage.
Less stored carbon
Research shows no-till farming practices may boost the amount of carbon that’s stored near the surface of the soil. This matters because carbon-rich soils are less likely to erode, and most of the beneficial organisms and microbes are found in the soil’s top layer.
But when you consider the various layers that make up our soils, this is not the case. One study found soils that haven’t been ploughed contain about 5% less stored carbon than conventionally-farmed soils. Other research shows no-till practices don’t necessarily increase carbon storage, contrary to what many no-till advocates say.
Lower crop yields
Even if no-till farming is better for the environment, it may not produce the yields farmers need to earn an income. One international meta-analysis found farmers grew about 5% less crop, one to two years after switching from conventional to no-till practices. This drop in yields was consistent across 678 studies looking at 50 different crops. This may be because no-till practices can compact the soil, limiting how much roots can grow and absorb nutrients.
A balancing act
Overall, it seems conventional farming methods are better for the soil than no-till practices. But that’s only if farmers plough the soil without relying on herbicides and other harmful chemicals.
Current evidence suggests these chemicals are damaging, both for the soil and our health. So we need new ways of producing food without chemicals. ” No-kill cropping ” – which involves sowing seed directly into dry soils without any artificial chemicals – may be one option.
But we urgently need more research to know if such alternative ways of farming will actually improve the health of our soils, communities and agriculture sector.
