ABSTRACT
Conservation tillage is only one of the conservation practices that may be considered. On highly erodible land, as well as non-highly erodible land, the adoption of conservation tillage can offer substantial benefits to farmers by sustaining productivity and to the public by reducing sediment and chemical loadings in valued water bodies. The Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 modifies the conservation compliance provisions by providing farmers with greater flexibility in developing and implementing conservation plans. The current definition of conservation tillage was developed until 1984. Using a broad definition, it was shown that the use of conservation tillage increased from 2 percent of planted acreage in 1968 to nearly 36 percent of planted acreage in 1996. When the adoption of conservation will provide significant public benefits, but would be profitable for the farmer, financial incentives may be necessary to elicit a voluntary change in farmer practices.
