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Preventing erosion and building soil quality.
In agriculture production, the two guiding principals to soil preservation are to: 1) minimize topsoil lost to erosion; and 2) improve soil health. Typically, both of these objectives are accomplished by increasing organic matter with Winter/cover crops and minimizing the amount of tillage used on the soil. Traditionally, producers were forced to remove all residues from the soil prior to planting, and then continue to cultivate the soil while the crop was growing to control weeds. While tillage does control weeds, it also loosens the soil surface and makes it vulnerable to wind and water erosion. Furthermore, tillage can release the carbon stored in the soil and decrease organic matter, which reduces soil quality. Today, thanks to herbicides and herbicide-tolerant cotton, weeds can be controlled without tillage, allowing what is referred to as "no-till" and conservation tillage systems to be adopted.
Cotton has made great strides in reducing tillage, and using Winter/cover crops. The number of acres of cotton produced with reduced-tillage systems has been increasing for the last 10 years, as illustrated by the chart below based on data compiled by the Conservation Tillage Information Center in cooperation with the USDA, National Resource Conservation Service. This trend will likely continue to grow as fuel prices continue to increase; in addition to preserving the soil, reducing tillage significantly reduces fuel use and its associated cost to the producer.
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