Organic soybean producers can be both ecofriendly and competitive using little or no tillage

Image credit: John Wallace

Image credit: John Wallace

Problem

Can U.S. organic soybean producers achieve yields at competitive costs in a global market?

  • More than 70 percent of the organic soybeans fed to organically produced poultry in the United States is imported.
  • Demand for domestic organic soybeans is high, but the conventional organic practice of tillage to control weed pressures comes with significant input costs of fuel and labor.

Findings

Researchers found that organic soybean producers using no-till and reduced-tillage production methods that incorporated cover crops can achieve similar yields at competitive costs compared to tillage-based production.

  • Reduced-tillage resulted in 50 percent less soil disturbance.
  • Damage from insect pests was low and did not differ between soybean production strategies.

Impact

This research provides tested alternatives for organic growers to increase the sustainable domestic production of organic soybeans. These methods:

  • Decrease labor and fuel costs while contributing substantial gains in water quality and soil conservation
  • Provide organic producers with critical data on the economic and agronomic tradeoffs associated with alternative strategies to increase their competitiveness in the global marketplace

Related Research Areas: Advanced Agricultural and Food Systems; Environmental Resilience

Research Credit

Team

Participating Departments

Competitive Funding

  • USDA NIFA (Organic Transitions Program)
  • Organic Farming Research Foundation

Federal and State Appropriations

  • USDA NIFA Hatch Projects PEN04600 and PEN04606, Accession #1009362 and #1009990

Emerging Discoveries

Published Research

Agronomic and economic tradeoffs between alternative cover crop and organic soybean sequences

Office for Research and Graduate Education

Address

217 Agricultural Administration Building
University Park, PA 16802-2600

Office for Research and Graduate Education

Address

217 Agricultural Administration Building
University Park, PA 16802-2600