Research Scientist Phil Gassman published in the most recent issue of Agriculture. Gassman co-authored the article "Simulated Ecosystem and Farm-Level Economic Impacts of Conservation Tillage in a Northeastern Iowa County" with Edward Osei, Syed H. Jafri, and Ali Saleh, all of Tarleton State University.

The article examines the ecosystem and farm-level economic impacts of no-till, using Buchanan County in northeastern Iowa as the backdrop due to previously established data and model validation efforts in that region. The authors find that, given the simulated yield penalties associated with no-till, corn and soybean prices would have to be substantially lower in order for no-till to break even. Consequently, incentives for conservation practice implementation may need to be tied to commodity prices and yield penalties in order to elicit greater adoption rates.

Simulated Ecosystem and Farm-Level Economic Impacts of Conservation Tillage in a Northeastern Iowa County
Edward Osei, Syed H. Jafri, Philip W. Gassman, Ali Saleh
Agriculture 13(4): 891
doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13040891