Returns to Corn and Soybean Tillage Practices

Extract: Average per-acre returns differ little for most U.S. corn and soybean farmers using various alternative tillage strategies, according to this analysis of 1980 farm-level production data. Midwest conventional-till soybean farmers, however, accrue a significantly higher average return than do Midwest no-till farmers. Most conservation-till soybean farmers in the three major producing regions incur significantly lower input costs than do conventional-till soybean farmers, but also harvest lower yields except in the Southeast. Significant differences were found in the use of specific corn and soybean inputs among alternative tillage strategies.