Question

Grain farmers have many options when it comes to preparing the soil. They can
plow and then thoroughly harrow a field before planting, they can practice
minimum tillage, or they can go so far as to plant without preparing the ground at
all. Heavy tilling buries and thus kills weeds and insects. No-till farming requires
careful and extensive use of herbicides and pesticides and also produces slightly
lower yields. Explain how each of the following will affect the relative efficiency of
maximum tillage and no-till farming:
a. Higher prices for diesel fuel.
b. Improved herbicides and pesticides.
c. Tougher government controls on stream and lake pollution caused by
chemicals used in agriculture. (Note: Untilled ground is more likely to retain
the chemicals put into it.)
d. Farmers adopt the same attitude toward their fields that some suburban
homeowners have toward their lawns: They find satisfaction in looking at a
broad, well-tended expanse of land.
e. Higher prices for land.

Answer 1

Answer:

It typically involves (1) plowing to "till" or dig-up, mix, and overturn the soil; (2) harrowing to break the soil clods into smaller mass and incorporate plant residue, and (3) leveling the field. Initial land preparation begins after your last harvest or during fallow period.