Zhang, Y., R. M. Rejesus, M. A. Cavigelli, K. E. White, L. G. Knight, C. J. Dell, E. D. Lane, J. S. Pierce, B. Wilke, S. Culman, and S. Evans. 2026. Long-term economic returns to no-till adoption: evidence from field trials in the US Midwest. 1 doi: 10.1017/aae.2026.10055

No-till farming can improve soil health and reduce production costs, yet national adoption remains low, in part because producers face uncertainty about its long-term economic returns. Using more than 30 years of plot-level data from field experiments in Ohio and Michigan, we estimate site-specific effects of no-till on yields and input costs and calculate net profitability using partial budgeting. Results show that no-till consistently reduces operational costs across all sites. In Michigan, no-till also increases yields by 15.6 bu/ac for corn and 5.9 bu/ac for soybean. Estimated net return gains range from approximately 34⁢𝑡⁢𝑜93 per acre for corn and 30⁢𝑡⁢𝑜86 per acre for soybean. These results indicate that continuous no-till can generate positive long-run economic returns under the experimental conditions studied, although the magnitude varies across sites and crops.

DOI: 10.1017/aae.2026.10055

Associated Treatment Areas:

• T1 Conventional Management
• T2 No-till Management
• MCSE Main Cropping Systems Experiment

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