If flipping a field’s soil health is the goal, he says, it might require deep tillage to remove layers or improving field drainage with tile before adding other systems like cover crops or no-till.

Vertical tillage tools have deep-digging shanks that break up compacted layers of soil, eliminating the density change layer put in place by horizontal tillage. Tools include: in-line rippers ...

Currently much of the primary tillage is done in the fall. Deep tillage with the moldboard plow is still common, but fall chisel plowing for corn or soybeans is widely used. Other forms of ...

Tillage places weed seeds in better contact with the soil, also facilitating germination. In terms of weed control, deep tillage is a mixed blessing. It may bring up dormant seeds buried in the soil, ...

In Delaware deep tillage may not be an option as many growers use no-till or minimal tillage systems. In these situations, practices that remove soybean residue or promote residue decomposition will ...