Previous research has shown that tillage-based, organically grown crops benefit from better soil quality than those grown under conventional tillage. They compete more effectively against weeds and produce better yields.

But times have changed. Today most conventional growers have abandoned tillage in favor of no-till cropping systems. Researchers from the University of Saskatchewan decided to explore how these modern-day, no-till practices stack up against traditional, tillage-based organic cropping systems.  

In their two-year study, the team compared how organic and no-till crops respond to weed competition under standard nutrient management conditions and when nitrogen and phosphorus were applied.

Their findings, published the journal Weed Science, show that tillage-based, organically grown crops have no advantage over conventionally grown no-till crops when it comes to crop yields and competitiveness against weeds. The research team attributes this loss of advantage to the likely impact of repeated tillage on the carbon content of organically farmed soils.

Want to know more? The article “Weed competition in organic and no-till conventional soils under non-limiting nutrient conditions” is now available online, free for a month.