A survey by the Natural Resources Conservation Service in South Dakota shows no-till farming reached a milestone in 2019 with half of the acres devoted to the practice. That’s also five percent more than a year ago. NRCS State Conservationist Jeff Zimprich says farmers were challenged by their wettest year on record, yet stuck with no-till farming.

He says farmers who promote soil health using no-till or planting cover crops were better able to get their crops planted in a record wet year.

Zimprich says there are several environmental benefits to using no-till.

Zimprich says their survey showed 20 counties in central South Dakota had more than 75 percent of their cropland under no-till. More than 900,000 acres of cover crops were also planted this year.