Farm Decisions and Activities during Harvest: Soil Management

Oct 8

10 min read

TL;DR/ Executive Summary:

Who is this Article for?

Ag Industry Segments:
- Readers with limited agricultural experience, working in Ag Tech, Sustainability, Nature-Based Solutions, Regenerative Farming, Food System Transformation/ Investing, and related fields.
Roles you might work in:
- Product or project management, business development, customer success, sales, marketing, engineering, data science, or design

Summary:

Soil management is a critical component of fall decision-making for farmers, with actions taken having both short-term and long-term impacts. It’s important to understand that, for conventional farmers:

Crop residue is often not seen as valuable but rather something to manage. Poor decomposition can be a challenge, and tillage may be their primary tool for dealing with it.
Fertilizer applications in the fall are aimed at better distributing labor and reducing costs, a practice largely promoted by the fertilizer industry.
Tillage is deeply ingrained in farming traditions, passed down through generations. Asking a conventional farmer to switch to no-till practices can feel as significant as asking them to sell the farm.

Introduction:

Harvest is arguably the most exciting and pivotal time for farmers, marking the culmination of months of investment in time, labor, capital, and innovation. Often referred to as the "yield report card," it’s the moment when a farm's efforts are finally evaluated. While yield is just one piece of the profitability puzzle, many farmers consider it the primary indicator of success (we'll explore this further in a future post).

In this second part of the series, we focus on the crucial post-harvest decisions that traditional and conventional farmers in the U.S. and Canada make to manage their soil. This period involves a range of activities that directly impact soil health and future crop productivity. Table 1 below highlights key decisions and actions row crop farmers take during harvest.

Table 1: This highlights key decisions/ activities happening during the harvest window. This resource is a condensed extract from the Farmer Decision Making Guide pages 14 - 15.

How to best leverage this resource:

In the first post of this series we explored Harvest Logistics and Marketing & Storage. If you haven’t already read it, consider reading it first before continuing with this post. Additionally, if you’re interested in exploring farm decision-making from a regenerative farming perspective, ranching point of view, or focusing on specific regions or countries, feel free to contact Living Roots Ag today!

This article is part of a four-part series designed to provide a deeper understanding of the decisions farmers make during the harvest and post-harvest months. It’s geared toward readers with limited agricultural experience, working in Ag Tech, Sustainability, Nature-Based Solutions, Regenerative Farming, Food System Transformation/ Investment and related roles, such as product or project management, business development, customer success, sales, marketing, engineering, data science, or design.

Here’s the list of released and upcoming articles in the series: Farm Decisions and Activities during Harvest.

📤Harvest Logistics and Grain Marketing
📬Soil Management
🔜Decisions from a Regenerative Farming Point of View
🔜Positioning Your Ag Solution During Harvest

Harvest Decisions and Challenges

Amid the excitement of harvest come numerous farming challenges and critical decisions. At any moment, unexpected changes such as shifts in weather, local or global grain prices, equipment breakdowns, crop conditions, or contract delivery dates can disrupt even the best-laid plans. Farmers may need to make significant financial decisions, ranging from a few thousand to hundreds of thousands of dollars, at the drop of a hat. Having a clear understanding of their operational, strategic, and financial standing can offer peace of mind amidst the chaos. This is why farmers often rely on trusted advisors to help them make well-informed, level-headed decisions. So, what are some of these decisions and challenges? Who are some of those advisors? Keep reading to learn more!

Soil Management:

After harvest, farmers carry out several activities to prepare the land for the next production year (see Table 1 above for additional insights). A key activity is soil management, which includes residue management, fall fertilizer applications, and fall tillage. Each of these decisions can have significant effects on soil health, carbon sequestration, and next year's yield. Let’s explore each activity.

Residue Management:

What is it?

Residue management is how farmers handle the leftover plant material, like leaves and stalks, after they harvest the grain. When grain crops are harvested, only the grain is removed, leaving behind leaves, stalks, roots, and other plant matter in the field. Management practices may include removing residue (for livestock bedding, cellulosic ethanol, or renewable natural gas), chopping and burying residue through tillage (explained below), applying microbial or fertilizer products to accelerate residue decomposition, or using other management techniques.

Why is it done?

Certain crops, such as corn, sorghum, cereal rye, and others, produce several tons of biomass (residue) per acre. This large volume of residue can hinder planting in the spring and even reduce yields for the following crop if it does not decompose properly .

It's important to note that when crops are harvested for silage or hay, they are considered forage crops, not grain crops. (More on this in our upcoming Ranching and Livestock Decision-Making Guide.)

Many conventional farmers still use tillage as the primary way to manage this crop residue. However, this only addresses the surface problem. The slow breakdown of residue is often due to an imbalanced soil microbiome, poor residue quality, and poor soil structure, all of which prevent the soil from fully decomposing the leftover plant matter.

An imbalanced soil microbiome means that the populations of important soil microbes are not in harmony. Just like an ecosystem needs balance to thrive, so does the soil. Overuse of tillage tends to increase bacteria populations while reducing beneficial fungi. When this happens, residue breaks down much more slowly, or hardly at all.

Think of it like the human gut: if the microbiome is out of balance, it leads to bloating, discomfort, and inefficiency. Similarly, when the soil's 'gut microflora' is unhealthy or out of balance, it can't break down crop residue effectively or recycle nutrients for the next crop.

Curious how regenerative farming can address soil health issues like those mentioned above? Reach out to Living Roots Ag for expert insights and tailored product positioning guidance.

Fertilizer applications:

What is it?

Fall fertilizer applications are common among both conventional and regenerative farmers. A conventional farm does this to replenish nutrients removed by the previous crop and prepare the soil for the next growing season. (A regenerative farmer, on the other hand, will likely do this for other reasons.) Typically, this involves one or two applications, with different product combinations depending on the farm and subsequent cash crop.

The first application often consists of dry fertilizers in the form of small granules (the size of small peas or BBs), such as phosphorus, potassium, sulfur, and occasionally zinc or boron. For winter wheat, urea (a synthetic nitrogen fertilizer) is typically added to the blend as well.

A second application, if it occurs, usually involves Anhydrous Ammonia (a gaseous synthetic nitrogen source) which is widely used by conventional farmers (depending on the region) and some regenerative farmers. This only occurs prior (fall or early spring) to planting nitrogen hungry crops such as corn, wheat, etc. While anhydrous ammonia is generally the most cost-effective form of nitrogen, it has long-term implications for soil health (more on this in a future post)."

Why is it done?

The purpose of fall fertilizer applications, from a conventional farmer's perspective, is to:

Replace nutrients removed by the recently harvested cash crop
Provide sufficient nutrients for the next crop
Evenly distribute labor between fall and spring AND
Take advantage of lower fertilizer prices due to higher supply

Although many conventional farmers now apply some of their nitrogen during the growing season to improve sustainability, many still apply significant amounts of synthetic nitrogen in the fall. This is mainly driven by the lower cost of fertilizer, the opportunity to spread out labor by focusing on planting in the spring, and longstanding tradition. These farmers genuinely believe they are making the best decisions for both their farm's productivity and their financial well-being. Additionally, industry representatives often claim that fall-applied fertilizer will still be effective in the spring. While this may generally hold true in colder northern regions, warmer fall temperatures, unusual rainfall patterns, and soil chemistry can significantly affect how much of the fall-applied fertilizer remains available for the next crop. (Living Roots can provide further technical resources on this if interested.)

Fall Tillage:

What is it?

Fall tillage involves inverting the soil to achieve various objectives. For many farms, this practice is foundational and regarded as a key component for ensuring success year after year.

Why is it done?

For many conventional farmers, fall tillage is a tool that serves multiple purposes. It helps chop up and bury crop residue, break up soil compaction from heavy equipment, mix fertilizer into the soil, control weeds, and prepare the land for next season’s crop. It has even been done recreationally in a few cases.

When used sparingly, tillage can offer short-term benefits and some long-term advantages. However, over-reliance on tillage can lead to long-term issues like the loss of soil organic carbon (SOC). For many farmers, tillage is second nature, it’s part of how they’ve farmed for generations. Changing this routine can feel like denying their family’s farming traditions, making it hard for them to consider alternatives.

Farmers often hesitate to transition away from tillage because they’ve seen or heard about neighbors who tried no-till farming for just one season, didn’t adjust other parts of their management plan, and ended up with disappointing results (figure 1). These stories can leave lasting negative impressions. When speaking to farmers about alternatives to tillage, it can help to ask questions that uncover any deeper concerns they might have.

Figure 1 shows an example of a poorly managed transition trial to no-till and cover crops (left) and conservation tillage (right), implemented by me (Tom Lawler) several years ago. Although a plan was in place for managing the system, communication between the grower and me was not frequent enough to make timely adjustments. The school of hard knocks can indeed be a great teacher!

It's also beneficial to approach the transition to no-till or reduced tillage as part of a broader systems management strategy. Offering clear guidance on best practices, setting realistic expectations, and providing useful tools will help build trust with the farmer. Regular check-ins and asking thoughtful questions are key to supporting them through this change. By helping them visualize how these practices can positively impact their operation, you can create a collaborative path toward successful implementation. Need expert guidance on crafting messaging strategies on tillage reduction or creating a holistic approach? Contact Living Roots today!

While the science shows that over use of tillage can reduce soil organic carbon (SOC) at the soil surface by multiple mechanisms, focusing on negative outcomes alone is not productive. Many farmers are aware of the potential downsides of tillage but often feel they don’t have other or better options to replace the tillage tool in their toolbox. Instead of focusing on the problems, work alongside growers to explore alternative solutions that fit their needs. Partnering with farmers in this way makes the conversation more constructive and empowering.

In all honesty, I (Tom Lawler) learned this the hard way. I tried to convince my dad to adopt regenerative farming practices using facts and science, but I pushed too hard. It backfired, and for almost two years, we didn't trial any new regenerative practices—there was a lot of frustration on both sides. Then, as more farmers in the area began doing their own trials, my dad's interest slowly started to grow. This taught me something important: when working in sustainability, it's vital to understand why a farmer makes the decisions they do. Every grower has their own motivations, beliefs, and logic. Asking "why" in a kind, curious way fosters empathy, prevents resistance, and opens up meaningful conversations.

Concluding Thoughts:

In summary, soil management is a critical component of fall decision-making for farmers, with actions taken having both short-term and long-term impacts. It’s important to understand that, for conventional farmers:

Crop residue is often not seen as valuable but rather something to manage. Poor decomposition can be a challenge, and tillage may be their primary tool for dealing with it.
Fertilizer applications in the fall are aimed at better distributing labor and reducing costs, a practice largely promoted by the fertilizer industry.
Tillage is deeply ingrained in farming traditions, passed down through generations. Asking a conventional farmer to switch to no-till practices can feel as significant as asking them to sell the farm.

So how do we navigate these complexities? How can we encourage more farmers to adopt regenerative farming practices and drive meaningful change? It starts by having a conversation and asking questions. If you're interested in learning how Living Roots Ag can help deploy your regenerative solutions or products, don't hesitate to contact us today for a free discovery session!

For a practical starting place today, check out table 2 for insights on how to interact with growers while they are managing their soil post harvest.

Table 2 highlights decisions/activities, influencers, tools and insights. This is meant to help provide insights into how to encourage solution adoption, what to know, and additional challenges farmers face.

Glossary:

Biomass: Plant material accumulated from growth. This can be used to describe living or dead (residue) plant material.
Cash Crop: A crop planted for the intended purpose of selling for economic gain.
Cellulosic Ethanol: An alcohol based renewable fuel derived from plant biomass.
Compaction: The pressing of soil particles leading to the reduction of pore space which limits air and water flow into the soil.
Decomposition: The natural breakdown of leftover plant remains as a result of biotic and abiotic factors.
Dry fertilizer: Typically small pee or BB shaped granules that carry various nutrients needed for plant growth including but not limited to Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, Zinc, Boron, and more.
Nitrogen use efficiency: A broad term used to describe how well nitrogen is used by a crop. Often it is discussed as a ratio of lbs of nitrogen applied to the number of bushels produced on a per acre basis.
No-till Farming: Farming without the use of tillage.
Nutrient cycling: As a result of residue decomposition, certain nutrients left in the remaining
Pore Space: Voids between soil particles allowing for water and air to move and be stored in the soil. Health soils have 50 - 60% pore space. These voids are critical for the flourishing of soil life, plant roots, water storage, and more.
Renewable Natural Gas: This relatively new product is typically derived through the fermentation and processing of crop residue to produce a natural gas to replace traditional natural gas.
Residue: The remains of of dead plants post harvest (stalks, leaves, and roots)
Residue Management: The actions (described above) taken by growers to handle remaining crop residue after harvest.
Soil structure: The arrangement of soil particles into specific shapes. Granule or spherical structure allows for increased pore space. Blocky structure occurs in subsurface layers or as a result of excess or improper tillage, and no-structure generally occurs below the rooting zone.
Synthetic nitrogen: Nitrogen derived from man-made processes (Haber-Bosch)