What is meant by “Continuous Conservation Tillage” as it relates to the contract requirements?
Conservation tillage definitions vary by regions and crops in ordinary everyday discussions, but for CCX offset purposes it references the 2006 Natural Resources Conservation Service National Handbook of Conservation Practices. That means “managing the amount, orientation, and distribution of crop and other plant residue on the soil surface year –round while limiting soil disturbing activities to only those necessary to place nutrients, condition residue and plant crops”. Planting methods referred to as “no till”, “strip till”, “direct seeding”, “zero till”, slot till”, or “zone till” are acceptable, but “ridge till” is not, due to too much disturbance and soil movement.
