How Would You Keep No-Tilling if Glyphosate was Banned?

Some lively conversation is going on in the No-Till Farmer Email Discussion Group this week. We asked — What have you done to reduce glyphosate dependence on your farm, and how would you keep no-tilling if glyphosate was banned?

“Simply switch to Clethodim for rye termination and have a more diverse crop rotation. I have already scaled back my glyphosate use.”  

– Jason Harrold, Akron, Ind.  

“We can farm without glyphosate. It just will cost more, and the timing of herbicide applications will be in a smaller window and there will be more weed escapes. We’ve had the easy button for a long time now with Roundup Ready crops. I would like to go back to the 90s with the herbicide-resistant weeds we have today. We need to protect all the chemical choices we have and keep rotating herbicide families to prevent weed resistance.”  

– Jacob Kaderly, Monticello, Wis.  

“Here, we are pretty much getting closer to that world because of weed resistance. Glyphosate use has come down dramatically.”  

– Alejandro Ladaga, Buenos Aires, Argentina  

“We have fields that haven’t seen fungicides or pesticides for 12 years, no soil-applied fertilizers for 6 years and no glyphosate for 7 years. Yes, we have weeds, but they grow alongside our crops, not against them. Our yields are lower, but our test weights are higher. Our inputs have dropped up to 80% in some fields. Many of the so-called weeds we used to battle simply don’t appear anymore. The removal of synthetic fertilizers could be a major reason for this.”   

– Martin Caunce, Lancashire, England  

Let us know what you think, join the discussion at No-TillFarmer.com.

Watch the full version of this episode of Conservation Ag Update.