Farmers can retain topsoil by skipping fall tillage
Topsoil is the most fertile layer of soil, rich in microbial activity and essential for crop production. When it erodes, thousands of dollars’ worth of nutrients and organic matter erode with it.
“A common belief is that topsoil only erodes in the spring, the growing season or the fall,” says Naeem Kalwar, North Dakota State University Extension soil health specialist at NDSU’s Langdon Research Extension Center. “However, much wind-related soil erosion happens in the winter and is a direct result of fall tillage.”
Tillage loosens soil that would otherwise be held together by crop roots and fall volunteer crop growth, even if no cover crop is planted. Kalwar recommends leaving crop stubble as high as possible for all crops and spreading crop residue evenly across the field during harvest if not tilling in the fall.
“Leaving the crop stubble high will help capture snowfall, reduce or eliminate wind soil erosion, and dry out the soil in the spring,” says Kalwar. “By not conducting fall tillage, crop residue is more likely to stay in the field, allowing residue decomposition and nutrient cycling to stay in the field instead of having the crop residue blowing away.”
Topsoil blowing from fall-tilled fields either travels far away or gets deposited into the ditches or shelter belts next to the fields. Winter-blown soil blackens fields and roadside ditches, whereas nontilled fields and nearby ditches remain white.
If a living cover crop is left in the field in the fall, plants can remove water from the soil and help dry it out for spring planting.
Kalwar says that avoiding fall tillage and performing spring tillage as needed may not be a perfect system from a soil health perspective, but it would be a step in the right direction to minimize topsoil blowing in the winter.
If not conducting fall tillage, farmers will need to apply herbicides to control any winter annual weeds such as horseweed (marestail) and perennial weeds such as foxtail barley and Canada thistle, according to Jeff Stachler, NDSU Extension cropping systems specialist at NDSU’s Carrington Research Extension Center.
NDSU research in 2025 determined that topsoil loss in the winter of 2024-2025 resulted in nutrient losses costing $6,682.95 per acre to replace only five of the 10 nutrients lost (based on 2025 prices applying commercial fertilizer for a 0-6-inch-deep soil sample per acre), with each inch of topsoil per acre costing $1,113.81 to replace.
Based on this information, Kalwar says farmers are better off not tilling the soil after harvest and letting the volunteer crop plants thrive.
“Crop stubble will hold the topsoil together and capture more snow, improving soil moisture availability for 2027 crops,” says Kalwar. “Volunteer crop growth will add organic material to the soils.”
For information about herbicide usage to control winter annual and perennial weeds, visit ndsu.ag/tillage-26.
For more NDSU Extension information about soil health, visit ndsu.ag/soil-health-26.
NDSU Agriculture Communication – Nov. 4, 2026
Source: Naeem Kalwar, 701-256-2582, naeem.kalwar@ndsu.edu
Source: Jeff Stachler, 701-652-2951, jeff.stachler@ndsu.edu
Editor: Dominic Erickson, 701-231-5546, dominic.erickson@ndsu.edu
