Returns to Tillage Systems under Changing Input and Output Market Conditions

Costs and net returns for conventional tillage (CT), reducedtillage (RT) and no-tillage (NT) are evaluated for five cropping systems: continuous soybean, a soybean-grain sorghum rotation, a soybean-wheat rotation, continuous grain sorghum and continuous wheat, over a period of increasing input and output prices, 2006-2008. NT had the highest net return for all of the systems with soybeans each year. NT also had the lowest energy use for all systems. The net returns of NT increased relative to CT and RT from 2006 to 2008 for all of the systems with soybeans. However, this increase in net returns was a result of increasing commodity prices rather than a slower increase in costs for NT.