The way most people use the term minimum tillage, they mean reduced tillage as defined above. Although specific operations or sequence of operations might differ, most would agree that the objective of conservation tillage is to provide a means of profitable crop production while minimizing soil erosion due to wind and water. To be considered conservation tillage, a system must produce, on or in the soil, conditions that resist the erosive effects of wind, rain and flowing water. Such resistance is achieved either by protecting the soil surface with crop residue or growing plants, or by increasing the surface roughness or soil permeability. The moldboard plow is used in the fall or spring for primary tillage, with various secondary tillage operations performed ahead of planting.
Secondary tillage varies widely in type and number.
If herbicides are incorporated, the plowed soil is often leveled, then herbicides applied and incorporated with one or two passes of a tillage tool that also prepares the seedbed. A portion of the fertilizers may be applied during the planting operation. A rotary hoe or row-crop cultivator is also frequently used for additional weed control and soil loosening after crop emergence. If herbicides are not incorporated, one or more secondary tillage operations are used to level the soil and prepare a seedbed, with the herbicides usually applied after planting. Fertilizing may be done before, during or after planting.