Soil fertility is one that should be the basis for any producer of agricultural crops. Soil testing in the fall allows for timely applications of lime on low pH soils. Lime requires a period of time before its full effectiveness is realized. Applications made in the fall will have time to react with the soil particles and by planting time, will have made its best impact on soil pH. Depending on the soil chemistry, applications of phosphorus and potassium may also be made in the fall. Decisions about what type of tillage also have to be made.
Some soils respond well to fall tillage, especially where there is a hardpan.
Depending on the crop and row spacing, beds can be formed in the fall and this will save valuable time in the spring. One consideration with fall tillage is the destruction of current season crop residues that can harbor disease-causing organisms like fungi. Burying this residue reduces the amount of inoculum in the soil for the next crop. If diseases were a problem this year, some form of fall tillage to bury crop residues should help in reducing the chances for the disease next year. One specific example is southern blight of tomatoes.