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The American farmer has long waited for winter months to come to an end, as he or she looks to the coming of spring as time to begin the honorable and strenuous work out in the fields to provide people around the U.S. with a source of food.

Prior to planting their crops, farmers should perform soil preparation through some form of tillage or chemical “burn-down,” according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. This helps to kill the weeds in the seedbed that would negatively influence planting operations due to the fact that this unwanted growth can crowd out the crop and compete with it for water and nutrients.

American farmers typically employ one of three types of tilling when performing soil preparation. Conventional tillage consists of using moldboard plows followed by several secondary tillages and then later relying upon mechanical cultivation after the crop is up.

More common farm preparation practices include reduced tillage, accomplished using a chisel plow, and conservation tillage, which allows for more than 30 percent of residue coverage to remain on the soil. This method helps to limit the negative effects that tilling can have on the land.