Did You Know?
Over the past decade, farmers have dramatically increased their use of conservation tillage techniques that keep crop residue such as leaves and stalks in the field. According to the Conservation Technology Information Center, conservation tillage was used on 103.1 million acres and reduced tillage on another 64.1 million acres in 2002. No-till/strip till acreage grew by another 3.1 million acres since the last survey conducted in 2000. No-till/strip till acreage has grown steadily since 1990, when it was at 16.9 million acres. Nearly 60 percent of the acres planted to crops in the United States is included in this type of crop-residue management. This greatly reduces field runoff and keeps crop protectants where they belong - in the field and out of streams. This helps protect water quality.
— Source: American Farm Bureau Federation
