Returns to Tillage Systems under Changing Input andOutput Market Conditions

摘要

Costs and net returns forconventional tillage (CT), reducedtillage(RT) and no-tillage (NT) areevaluated for five cropping systems:continuous soybean, a soybean-grainsorghum rotation, a soybean-wheatrotation, continuous grain sorghumand continuous wheat, over a periodof increasing input and outputprices, 2006-2008. NT had thehighest net return for all of thesystems with soybeans each year.NT also had the lowest energy usefor all systems. The net returns ofNT increased relative to CT and RTfrom 2006 to 2008 for all of thesystems with soybeans. However,this increase in net returns was aresult of increasing commodityprices rather than a slower increasein costs for NT.