New Report Identifies “Toxic” Impact of No-Till Agriculture, Inaccurately Referred to as “Regenerative”

As a research-based and farmer-centered organization, Rodale Institute has always followed the science. Supporting producers with proven, evidence-based information is the Institute’s priority and we conduct agricultural research that empowers farmers and ranchers to farm in a way that safeguards their land against practices that deplete their soil and damage their long-term economic outlook.

Historically, the Institute’s scientists have been concerned about the rapid rise in chemical use on the majority of farmland across the United States and more recently its relationship to the rise in no-till farming. Many other farmers, scientists, and agricultural and environmental organizations have also shared this concern.

Rodale Institute has had the opportunity to review a recent report by Friends of the Earth titled Rethinking No-Till: The toxic impact of no-till agriculture on soil, biodiversity, and human health. The findings—which are a review of the scientific literature related to herbicide and insecticide use in no-till farming in the United States—are consistent with Rodale Institute’s decades-long research, including our long-term Farming Systems Trial.