| Production Manual ~ Advantages |
A traditional tillage system utilizes as many as half a dozen operations to prepare the seedbed and seed the crop. Zero tillage uses only one or two passes over the field. The tillage operations utilize large amounts of fuel - fuel that is becoming increasingly expensive. Zero till farmers' records show that fuel consumption for production of a crop may be half that of their neighbours. The immediate cost reduction plus the reduced use of the non-renewable fuel resource make zero tillage attractive.
Tractor fuel is a variable expense; the tractor is a fixed expense. no-till can cut costs in both cases.
