Join Darryl Wong, the executive director of the Center for Agroecology, for this special reporting on the results of his PhD thesis on no-till farming practices on the Central Coast.

As climate change continues to present major challenges for agriculture in the coming decades, there is more need than ever for solutions that address key social, environmental, and economic issues. No-till practices have been implemented on millions of hectares worldwide, addressing historic agricultural issues of topsoil erosion, water infiltration, and diversification. However, these systems still present considerable environmental challenges as they rely heavily on herbicides and chemical fertilizers that are prone to off-farm contamination and leaching. Organic tillage-based systems have been able to exclude these products while providing considerable co-benefits. However, the ‘holy-grail’ of organic no-till farming has been slow to develop, with both adoption and research lagging far behind conventional systems in the United States.

This talk will explore the agroecological challenges facing organic no-till agriculture, with a particular focus on the distinct challenges of California organic vegetable systems. We will review the results of a three-year field trial conducted at the UCSC Farm with discussion about the role of formal research and extension in supporting agroecological innovations.