Jeanne - Simme Valley
Well-known member
RDFF - excellent description/explanation.
Vertical does retain soil structure better than conventional. I'm like you, I like minimal disturbance. For those of you that haven't already look up Ray Archuleta and a slake test to see what working ground does to structure and water absorbing capacity.Tillage (ANY and ALL tillage operations through the soil... including my "no-till drill"... which I call a" vertical till tool"... the more aggressive the tool, the more effective and complete will be its impact) destroys the soil aggregative structure, (same way it does if wanting to build a road... you "till it/shred it/mill it" so it can more effectively be compacted with compressive pressure... getting the air spaces out of it). So you've temporarily (or should I say momentarily... in soil time) "fluffed it up", but you've destroyed the supportive soil structure and carrying capacity.
Beyond that, tillage also destroys the HOME of the biology that builds this structure..., AND it physically destroys the biology itself as well. So not only have you removed the "frame of the house"... the studs that are absolutely essential to support it...................... but you've also killed a high percentage of the actual workers that built and were actively working to maintain and rebuild that house in the first place.
So it all "collapses"... literally... into what we call "compaction".
Grazing too short, and/or returning to regraze too quickly to a pasture before the grass has had ample opportunity to recover and "mature enough" so it has fully developed its root structure, will produce a similar result (even without tillage).
Ray Archuleta Slake Test and Rainfall Simulator TestVertical does retain soil structure better than conventional. I'm like you, I like minimal disturbance. For those of you that haven't already look up Ray Archuleta and a slake test to see what working ground does to structure and water absorbing capacity.