An economic risk analysis of conservation tillage systems for wheat, grain sorghum, and soybeans in the Great Plains

Conservation tillage systems are compared with conventional tillage systems for northeastern and west central Kansas. Slightly higher net returns were found for no-till soybean and grain sorghum systems in northeastern Kansas as well as higher levels of risk relative to conventional systems, making conventionally tilled continuous grain sorghum the preferred system among risk-averse managers. In west central Kansas, wheat-grain sorghum-fallow rotations showed the highest returns, when risk is considered, the conventional tillage system is preferred for this crop rotation. For both locations studied, the difference in tillage systems when risk is considered is small due to the fact that small changes in costs or yields could change the preference for one tillage system versus another.