John Aeschliman and his son Cory are the 3rd and 4th generations owing their livelihoods to the Aeschliman Farm. Among the steep rolling hills of Whitman County in eastern Washington state, they raise winter and spring wheat, spring barley, peas, lentils, and canola, and recently began farming corn as well. Since the late 1970s, John and his son have been experimenting with and perfecting no-till and minimum-till systems for direct-seeding dryland farm crops. They now direct-seed 75% of their 4,000 acre farm and practice conservation tillage on the rest.

"My grandfather came from Switzerland in 1880 and he brought the mold-board plow with him," says John. "That system of farming caused a lot of erosion, from both tillage and water erosion. I still live in the house I grew up in. Every spring as a youngster, I would step out the back door into 3 inches of water from the erosion. I realized there had to be a better way."

"Direct-seeding is a 180-degree turn around, a totally different system. It's management intensive – you have to watch everything. No-till starts at harvest. First you have to spread the straw and chaff evenly on the field, so the weeds and volunteer seeds will germinate and you can spray them before the next seeding. Then you can direct-seed the next crop into the stubble and residue with success. Occasionally, we do some light tillage in the fall to jump-start the process."

The Aeschlimans seed with a Yielder® no-till drill. Fertilizer is placed 6 inches below, and 3.5 inches to the side of the seed by a _" x 24" coulter and a custom-built fertilizer shank on 15-inch centers. The seed is placed on 7-inch centers by double-disk openers and packed by semi-pneumatic packer wheels. They apply fertilizer very conservatively, watching the current crop and applying only what is needed for the next crop to avoid leaving residual chemicals. "The drills we use are durable, provide good depth control with minimum soil disturbance, and place seed and fertilizer accurately."

The environmental benefits of their no-till system include a marked reduction in use of herbicides and fertilizers, reduced erosion, and improved water infiltration. Less soil disturbance encourages greater diversity of soil life, which actively aids in the conversion of crop residues and fertilizers into plant matter. John reveals "the secret is in maintaining a healthy duff layer from the residue from previous crops. This protects the soil from rain and wind, feeds the microorganisms, and controls weeds. The bonus is, we are sequestering carbon by keeping it out of the atmosphere and locking it up in the soil. Conventional tillage opens the ground and releases carbon with each pass. No-till is the greatest thing for carbon sequestration because with this low-disturbance system, very little carbon escapes."

The Aeschlimans haven't received a single grant or any other subsidy for using their environmentally friendly approach. They do it because it improves the bottom line.

Harvesting no-till spring barley

"Necessity is the mother of invention," says John. "Agricultural prices haven't changed much for 100 years, but the costs of production keep going up. The economics of no-till work very well. We make fewer trips over the ground, which means less fuel and less labor. On our dryland fields, water is the limiting factor. A healthy duff layer turns 15" of rainfall into 19" by stopping any water and soil loss from erosion. We can often raise 80-100 bushels/acre on ground that used to raise 60 bushels/acre. With more crop growing, you might assume we need more fertilizer. But we are only adding 90 lbs of N on a regular basis, while the formula calls for 225 lbs. We think we are getting way more conversion by increased microbial activity. With chemical prices so high these days, it makes a big difference in keeping our costs of production down."

John learned about direct seeding and no-till approaches from others leading the field back in the mid-70s. He says talking to other direct seeders is still the best way to learn. "They can answer just about any question you have." Now there are also resources on the Internet, an annual direct-seed conference, and a no-till association (http://pnwsteep.wsu.edu provides links to all the above). John hopes that with more information, growers in financial trouble can figure out how to stay alive in these tough economic times – and also address environmental issues. "People need to know that there is a much better way than how we have done it for 130 years. It is truly productive and cost-effective, and so good for the soil."

It's not just producers that need to learn about no-till and other stewardship practices, John emphasizes. "We are stewards of the land, now more than ever, passing healthy soil from generation to generation. Yet, if the public isn't made aware of what the few remaining farmers are trying to do, they will pass laws that will drive us into extinction. American farmers should be on the endangered species list. When I was a kid in 40s and 50s, half the people in America lived in rural areas. We were farm kids. Farmers are now less than 1% of the population, and consequently 99% of the public doesn't know what's going on with us, the information doesn't get out to them."

Spring canola seeded into 80 bushel spring wheat stubble, which prevents erosion

"Without more education, by the time the consumer finds out what is going on, it will be too late for farmers. People are selling out now, and the land is being bought up by big agribusiness, pension funds, oil companies and other speculators. If the public had the facts, they would blow their stacks."

"Consumers do not realize that if the price of wheat were $6 per bushel, there would only be about 3 cents worth of wheat in the average loaf of bread. With the current price under $3 per bushel, the price of the end product certainly can't be blamed on the farmer."

"Agriculture is one of the only businesses in America where the producer of a product has no say in the price his product sells for, and has no way to recapture increased costs of production from year to year. Unlike in Europe, where 40-50% of people's income is spent on food, U.S. consumers only spend 11% on food. Looking at the surge in our economy, with per-capita income at an all-time high, farmers' income has never been less and their costs never more. With added environmental restrictions and regulations, and sanctions being placed on many growers' markets, we are caught in the middle with no place to turn. To get out of this trap, we need to establish a direct dialogue between agricultural producers and food consumers. Farmers should take the initiative to open such a dialogue."

John Aeschliman
201 Aeschliman Road
Colfax, WA 99111
Tel: (509) 397-3118
jeaesc@colfax.com

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