Although wheat-fallow is a popular practice among many farmers in Montana, a large number have converted to no-till practices in hopes of retaining soil moisture and improving yields.

That’s the road Jason Camp and his wife Jodi took in 2000 when they converted their family’s 60-year-old farm to straight no-till. Working in a semi-arid climate that only sees 14-15 inches of annual rainfall and several inches of snow each year, fallow is still part of their management. 

But they’ve introduced more diverse cropping into their operation and are grazing livestock on cover crops in addition to traditional feeding. Researching of the moisture retention and yield increase potential of no-till is what convinced the Camp and the family to make the switch. 

“We were leasing everything from my family at that point, so it was all our decision when we made that step,” says Camp, noting that crop-shared farms are more of an obstacle to adoption. “There would have to be some major disaster for me to work ground again.” 

Camp says crop yields are 10-15 bushels per acre higher now than when their Gallatin Valley farm’s fields…