A no-till system conserves moisture more efficiently than any other tillage system. No-till has its greatest advantage on farm land that is well drained, sloping, and free of severe compaction. No-till is likely the best tillage system for growing corn successfully in eastern Washington. The practice of no-till has been most successful under a diversified crop rotation. A diversity of crops, unlike similar specie crops, breaks disease, insect and weed cycles.
Spring barley is a cool season grass like wheat.
Corn, a warm season grass, is quite different. Corn would offer two distinct advantages over spring barley in the rotation. First, Take-all, Rhizoctonia root rot and Cephalosporium stripe are three cereal diseases not hosted by corn. Winter annual grasses which host soil-borne pathogens of wheat and barley are more easily controlled in corn than spring cereals. Second, corn also has a different growing season than barley, which allows improved weed control options, especially on winter annual grasses, through cultural practices and herbicides.