Farmers Commit to No-Till Despite Glyphosate Costs

Sharp price increases for glyphosate and other chemicals, not to mention fears over shortages, will likely mean drastically higher input costs this year for those who practice no-till.

But that doesn’t mean farmers are ready to turn to plows and other tillage equipment in order to lessen the need for chemicals with no-till.

“We haven’t really heard of many people looking to tillage as an alternative to no-till this year, and I’m not encouraging people to use tillage as an alternative to glyphosate,” said Eric Rosenbaum, executive director of the Pennsylvania Corn Growers Association.

“The long-term benefits of no-till are not something you want to walk away from, even with the higher glyphosate prices.”
There are several reasons why Rosenbaum believes no-till will remain a viable option.

The price for corn and other commodities remains robust, he said, and the best way to protect the crop from yield-robbing weeds is through an effective glyphosate program. As long as commodity prices trend higher, the increased chemical input cost can be absorbed, Rosenbaum said.

There’s also a regulatory consideration, he added, as some farmers’ conservation plans may not allow for tillage on some fields.

Still, Rosenbaum acknowledged that those practicing no-till will face greater financial risk, especially when the per acre price for Roundup has gone from $4 to possibly $15 or more this year.

Those numbers have left even the most ardent supporters of no-till feeling a bit uneasy heading into the 2022 planting season.
Dean James, farm manager of Cotner Farms in Danville, Pennsylvania, plants approximately 1,500 acres with no-till. He pre-ordered enough Roundup for this year but is still waiting for it to arrive.

The price was significantly higher, James said, and he did consider other herbicide options to lessen the need for glyphosate, but many of those chemicals have gone up in price as well.

“The situation with glyphosate is forcing us to think about things, but regardless we’re still committed to no-till and cover crops. There’s just too many benefits to throw it all away for something that may just be a one-year disruption,” James said.
On his dairy farm in Dalton, Pennsylvania, Paul Manning intends on sticking with no-till for about half of his crops, but he’s crunching numbers trying to justify the increased expense. When he checked on the price of Roundup in the winter, it had more than doubled to nearly $60 per gallon. To make matters worse, Manning was told by his chemical dealer that 35 gallon drums of Roundup aren’t available right now, and his only option is a 275-gallon tote.

“It would be an investment of more than $14,000, and it’s enough Roundup to last us four or five seasons,” Manning said. “Do we bite the bullet and buy a four-year supply of Roundup or do we take a chance and see what becomes available with planting season approaching? We need to have a serious conversation about what we’re going to do this year.”

Even if tillage was a viable option to cutting herbicide dependency this year, Dwight Lingenfelter, a Penn State Extension weed specialist, said it’s not an option for some producers because they sold their plows years ago when committing to no-till.
He recommended farmers consider alternative herbicides in order to stick with their no-till plans, such as Gramoxone, dicamba or 2,4-D.

“I’ve been here 28 years and haven’t seen a situation like this to this degree,” Lingenfelter said. “The number of herbicide products in question and the price volatility is a real challenge this year. I’m already hearing that people are not going to grow as much field corn and plant more soybeans and small grains.”

Andrew Frankenfield, an agronomy educator with Penn State Extension, believes even though crop rotations could change, reliance on no-till won’t waiver this season. A switch to tillage will still come at a cost resulting from higher fuel prices, he said, and the benefits of no-till are just to great to give up.

“I think farmers are going to pay whatever they have to in order to stay with no-till, but the question surrounding herbicides is can they get it?” Frankenfield said. “There are farmers that paid for their Roundup and haven’t gotten it yet. In a normal year you wouldn’t be worried, but right now there’s a lot of anxiety about it.”