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Scaling No-Till Without More Equipment: Mark Burnham on Soil, Slopes & Sustainability | Crop Chats

• Ian Virtue • Season 2 • Episode 4

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What does it really take to scale a no-till system without piling on equipment costs? In this episode of Crop Chats, we’re in Cobourg, Ontario with seventh-generation farmer Mark Burnham of Burnham Farms. Mark shares how his farm transitioned into full no-till over two decades—without the need for flashy new iron or big tillage passes.

Mark and his father have built a system that works across steep hills, sandy loam, and large field blocks. From optimizing cover crop timing to managing compaction through strategic patience (and the occasional well-tuned chisel plow), Mark walks us through how his no-till system thrives in real-world conditions.

We discuss:

  • Why cover crops now pay for themselves through soil savings
  • How planting green fits into his corn and azuki bean rotation
  • Why patience and timing are more critical than horsepower
  • The key equipment pieces that actually matter for no-till
  • His honest take on when and why he still uses tillage—and how little it takes

🎧 New episodes dropping weekly throughout the planting season.

Crop Chats is a collaborative video and podcast series between the Ontario Soil Network and Ian McDonald (OMAFA). Watch the full video on YouTube or listen on your favourite podcast platform.

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1:

My dad and I both conceptually, like, this should work, there's no reason we can't make it work. But if I was to go back into full tillage, I would have to spend more money on equipment, I'd have to hire more people. We don't use tillage equipment that often so why spend the money on it? I've gotten to the point where I'm like, if I'm going in the field and I'm doing tillage, I want to make sure that tillage equipment is tuned up right. It is doing the best job it can possibly do.

2:

Hello and welcome to Winning with No-Tills, part of the Crop Chat series that will be on Field Crop News. And today we're in Coburg, Ontario, at the farm of Mark Burnham, Burnham Farms here in Coburg, where Mark is a seventh generation farmer here in the area, primarily grains, but I'm going to have him talk about the operation as a whole as we go forward. So Mark, maybe just talk a little bit about who's currently involved in the farm as a whole? and the layout, the setup of the.

1:

Yeah so our farm recently went through a - well we're going through a transition phase from one generation to the next and we split up the cash cropping and our horticulture, farm market business. So I'm the cash cropping side with one full-time employee and my dad's part-time and then our horticulture and farm market is it's got my two younger sisters and both my parents involved and then we also have my older sister also as a horse barn on

2:

And can you talk about the sort of journey to where you are today with your

1:

Yes, so when dad came back from Guelph in the early 80s, late 70s, I can't remember, he started no-tilling then. He is one of the first people in the area to no-till, and he's also one of the first ones to start growing.

2:

Okay, and you didn't go through with the strip-till phase and on that journey you went straight to the no-till? Yeah, yeah, we were kind of minimum till.

1:

after the week. we'd do a light disk in the fall and another light disk in the spring and then we'd plant into that. I did a simple transition from that. to.

2:

And can we talk about the soil tapes and the slopes?

1:

Yeah, so soil types were silty loam, mostly. We've got some sandy loam up north with a few pockets of other types. We've got a little bit of muck or like maybe an acre or two of muck and slopes or anything from mostly flat like one or two percent slopes to some very large rolling, fairly steep hills. hill. Like it's up and down and up and down in one pass. So it's it's a lot.

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of elevation change.

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you any problem. as long as you have a drill with enough downforce and sharp enough blades, residue management usually isn't an issue, unless you get into super soft... where it just hairpins no matter what. Understood. Or if it's too dry we've had it sometimes where it's too dry and there's there's no soil structure because it's too dry even. Okay. But generally it's pretty and I'll correct you that's azuki stubble, not soybean stubble. Sorry, that's right Mark. I forgot. This picture just sort of highlights how big some of your fields are around here that you farm. Any idea how many acres that field is itself? That field is a little over 220 acres. We've got, so we farm just shy of 2,000 acres. We've got three fields that are over 200 acres. One field that includes the one in the area.

2:

acres. Wow, okay. And so maybe just talk about the crops and what your rotation is.

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system for you. Yeah, so we're mostly a corn azuki wheat rotation. We do have some untiled fields, they might total 150 to maybe 200 acres where it basically just flip-flops back from corn to azuki beans but that's our general rotation. So yeah, corn azuki is winter wheat. And all three of those no-tilled? All three of those no-tilled, and we follow up the wheat generally with the cover crop reducing the labour associated with tillage and in our rolling terrain we also typically had a lot of erosion issues so by going to no till we kind of solve both those issues and then yeah lately we've been noticing that. health benefit as well. In terms of some of those complex topographies that you have in those fields, did you have grass waterways at one time? Yes, and we still do have some grass waterways. We never had waterways, I guess, when we first started, probably because we didn't know much. them or how to manage them. So that's been a bit of a learning curve too. how to manage a waterway properly. - Gotcha. - It's not just a, see it and forget it. It's when you go to and start. to be installed properly, seed it and then farming it properly too, like making sure you're not actually putting a headland around it too, because then the water is just going to go into those headlands and then wash down the headlands, so you actually have to have

2:

a plant right through the waterways. And in your no-till system have you been able to take some of those grass waterways out because the system allows faster infiltration and such? Yep absolutely. We have taken out, we generally don't take out a whole waterway we'll just take out a whole waterway.

1:

reducing it and just have portions of waterways where it's steeper or where you know you're going to get that velocity of the water or the volume of water where it will. but yeah if it's flat we're typically farming across the walkway. not along it so the residue...

2:

any erosion. Okay, and can you talk a little bit about the mindset that it takes to be a no-tiller?

1:

have fear of it and of going down that road. What gave you the confidence? What's the makeup of Mark Burnham that lets him go down these roads? It's something that I've always known. Dad's been no telling as long as I've been alive to some degree. So it's always a system that I've seen work. I have some situations where it doesn't work. Yeah, you're number one. mental skill or whatever attribute has to be patience. um waiting for that soil to dry um whether it's for planting or harvesting or spraying like you you just got to make sure that you you try and manage that the soil as best you can same as the crop um so that you do.

2:

go in and do corrective tillage if you don't have to. And I know you're growing cover crops. Why are you growing cover crops? And you know, did the system, the no till system start with cover crops? Or is that something that's come in more recently? It's definitely more

1:

adventure. So yeah, we haven't been hunting like I said before we didn't jump into no-till right away. It took us 20 years to get it to full no-till, but since then we've been no-tilling full no-till for 20 years after that and we've probably been cover cropping for maybe I'm gonna call it good enough erosion on those wheat stubble fields and some other fields. winters, where in the spring you'd get that thaw just in the top few inches, then you'd get a massive downpour and then all of a sudden you get this sheet erosion. So we saw the cover crop. as a way to try and... to mitigate that and reduce the... the repair tillage that we would have to do.

2:

what's your sort of standard recipe today for cover.

1:

changed over the years. to be bigger believers in the annual race. and this hero, right? away from both of those species. Totally okay. Our main species is oats and then after that like this year were oats. turnip, sunflowers, I want to say there's another one but I can't remember right now. Oh, winter peas. And where in the system do you have cover crops? Currently it's only after wheat, but I would like to get to the point where if the bean fields not going into wheat, then I at least throw like some bin run wheat down on the field just to try and get that out there.

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in there. And what percentage of your soybean ground does go to wheat? Sorry, soybean or wheat.

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bean ground goes to winter wheat? Yeah. Typically we're shooting for 30%. that just aren't suitable for... They're untiled. flat they pawned so we tend to get a lot of winner kill.

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We just avoid the wheat on those fields.

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your traditional timing for putting your covers in and why? Yeah, we're usually seven to ten days after we finish wheat harvest. Just we're short on manpower so we don't really get going right away. Plus, I also like to let some of the volunteer wheat germinate and let any more foliage going again. that we can go back in with a roundup and burn those weeds down. Our major weed issue around here is South Thistle. So this is just one more chance at giving it a good kick and keeping it down. So yeah, we'll go in. We'll spray usually 7 to 10 days after harvest.

2:

sit for three days and then we'll go and start our seeding. Okay this is a winning with no till series but many of the guys that we've chatted with at these sessions have tillage someplace in the operation and I just want to talk about it from the standpoint of Burnham Farms. You know what tillage is? It's a very interesting

1:

here on the farm and why is tillage still required sometimes? Yeah so I was out disking two days ago to fill in some ruts that I made in the wheat field when I was or I guess one pass of spraying. was putting the nitrogen down with the sprayer. It was just soft ground and it already pushing the timing and it had to go on the ground to soft so you made some ruts even though we have the CTIS on the sprayer. Which set of tires did you have on when that happened? The skinnies. Yeah we made a few ruts so I had to go out and fill them in. of our tillage although we on some of our... to go in with a chisel plow. I haven't, I've just started this practice. And it's more or less just to go in and try and break up some of that existing compaction. of a refresh, try and get some more water infiltration instead of just ponding.

2:

the sprayer considering that the ground is very seldom. Um, unconsolidated right? It's it's mostly no-till when you say ruts, they're not the ruts.

1:

same thing in their field at the same time. Are they? The roots this year were deep. It was just so wet. Yeah, but like out of all my... 400 plus acres of wheat it was like I don't know if I... An acre and a half. Okay.

2:

It was pretty minimal. Very good. So you have that equipment here. You don't use it very often. You still have to keep it in the shop through the wintertime.

1:

to check it over and stuff, or it gets so little use that it really doesn't have a lot of wear and tear? So, yeah, our mindset on that has also changed a little bit. We were kind of a, we don't use tillage equipment that often, so why spend the money on it? But, I've gotten to the point where I'm like, if I'm going in the field and I'm doing tillage, I want to make sure that tillage equipment is tuned up right. It is do and make sure it's the right tillage equipment too. So you don't have to do it again? So yeah, I don't have to do it again. Like our chisel plow in this picture here has harrows on it, on it. So it's got time. arrows plus baskets so that we're trying to reduce.

2:

one pass across the field. Okay, so when it comes to no-till, people talk about the type of equipment that's required for that.

1:

are really the essential pieces of your no-till system. Drain tile? I would say drain tiles probably the number one. After that you It's your planter and your drill are the two key factors. Planters, I don't think you have to modify all that much from your traditional planters. them into no-till. Your drills are probably a little more specific, but I would say nowadays the majority of the drills are sold as no-till drills anyway, so. And this picture that we're looking at is your corn and bean planter planting greens. So talk to us.

2:

You've got another step beyond no-till. Talk to us about the green planting system.

1:

green planting came up. those no-till conferences. And it just... I don't know, I guess it was just a progression on the cover crops. And it wasn't really seen as a potential issue when planting like my dad and I both conceptually like this should work. There's no reason we can't make it work. And like the only the only real issue we have found. I guess there's a couple. The main issue mechanically is closing your seed for. So do you seed a little deeper then because of that sort of thatch of living roots? Uh, I suppose if someone tends to make a lot of changes, on the shallower side to begin with. That's maybe a good theory. I tend to... on the slightly deeper side like I'm probably a two to two. inch guy. Issues we've had with planting green are if you have a cereal crop that's maybe too advanced or too thick, it can rob a lot of nitrogen from that early corn. And that's one reason we've and then what do you do in terms of termination? We just go in post-plant pre-emerge with Roundup and Acuron. It's just your standard herbicide program, nothing special. And the competition?

2:

How important is that? I guess what I'm getting at is... measurement off of the fields.

1:

Yeah, very important. It's a bit of a challenge in our program because we are edible beans, we don't have that much residue coming out the back. So trying to get it to spread full width when we're running a 40 foot header already is a bit of a challenge. I've made some modifications and I'm hoping this be that much better, but again it's, with the edible beans it's not a super thick residue either, so if it doesn't get perfect, super thick, it's not a good idea. It's probably not as bad as if you're in a 60 bushel, 70 bushel of soybeans and you're only spreading 75% of your width. And with wheat, do you take straw off or do you spread it? In our area we don't have a whole lot of market. straw so typically we chop we may only windrow 50 acres which is enough for our strawberries. And then we've got a local dairy farmer who takes 25 to 30 acres of straw a year. And it's much easier to plant that cover crop into that standing straw.

2:

stubble then if it's all fly.

1:

and the Jaff. I'm cutting anywhere from 6 to 7.

2:

sometimes 12 inches high. Okay, so you made mention of this a little bit earlier in our conversation, Mark, in terms of the piece of equipment. or using a no-till.

1:

Is it the same piece that you would buy if you're doing conventional? If it was me buying, probably. Um, but yeah, there are, there are things to consider if you are no-till for sure. Or considering doing some no-till. Like there are still lots of non no-till drills out there. That's maybe a bit of a tough question for me because yeah I've been no-till for so long I don't consider non no-till equipment. And you like your drill would seed all your wheat and all your cover crops and so like that's more wear and tear on it but you know talk about why you drill. Right. I guess I forgot to mention that this point previously is. A good reason why we drill the cover crops is we're also banding fertilizer at the same time. So we're trying to accomplish two things at the same time. So yeah, we're drilling our cover crops on 15 inches, and then we're banding our fertilizer on 15 inches. - And that fertilizer... for what? Just, well, it's for the following crop, but yeah, it's P&K mostly. Yeah, it's just, because we can't get all of it down with the planter. So this is just, you know, for the whole crop. another way to get in the soil down where the roots can access it quicker and you're not spreading it on the surface where you... potential to get stratification.

2:

Then we talked a little bit about the key components of the system in terms of the equipment But what are the other things that you had to sort of? adjusted. Maybe you haven't. Maybe it was your dad that had to do it earlier on. But, you know, things like the timing, the patience, the weak control.

1:

different ball game than what your conventional tilling neighbors would be engaged in. Yeah, our maintenance and our setup, you probably have to be a little more finicky. If your planter's not set up perfectly, you'll probably see that a little quicker than you would with a conventional till planter. Same with the combine, if your chopper's not set up properly. Um, you will notice that. Um, and then yeah, crop rotation. Um, we do try and stick to our rotation as best we can, because it does seem to work better if it's in that full three-year cycle versus just flipping back and forth.

2:

or just one crop continuously. Do you struggle with weed control in a different way than the conventional people around the neighborhood would? I don't have experience with that because I have very limited full tillage but yeah I've been told by good friends that yes you do have different weed spectrums from no till to full tillage. And again you've been in it long enough that maybe these were all overcome by your dad back in the day but you know a lot of people talk about the because a lot of people are. about going into no-till because of things like fertility management.

1:

delayed planting, slow emergence, soil compaction. Are these things that keep you up at night? Yeah. I'm still dealing with fertilizer management to some degree. I still have modifications and changes I want to make to my system. probably mine. Just getting that as much fertility down. that two by two or in that zone as I can. So very little of yours is broadcast, if any? Yeah, I try and reduce the broadcast to, like, the bare minimum. Like, the first pass in nitrogen on the wheat is broadcast dry. The second pass is liquid. What I'm trying to have time to do this. You call up the spreader and get a spread. Uh planting the delays and stuff uh yeah your your biggest hurdle there is just learning to be patient. We noticed when we were getting into the no-till corn more specifically I noticed when we were getting into no-till corn because I wasn't really around when we transitioned in the other crops. Our planting dates were almost the same as... guys because they were doing. by the time they got around to planting, it was... a day or two of when we would be planting. Soil compaction, it's consideration. If you can maintain your soil being untouched for so long, you do get that soil structure and it will carry you a lot better. So, soil compaction, I mean, I still consider it, I still try and manage it. What I found in talking to the no-tillers across the province is that, like you say, they don't worry about it as much but they spend the money and the time to make sure that their equipment is in the least compacting way as possible and that's always struck me interesting combined's got tracks, the sprayers. and two sets of tires. Yeah, I guess that is just part of the system is yeah, you try and, you want to avoid making those ruts to avoid going back in and doing the correction, which then sets that part back and now that we're to the size where we can do GPS and we're in a near controlled traffic situation, yeah, if you've got those paths you really don't want to

2:

or anywhere that you feel you're losing by being a no-teller.

1:

I won't say no, but I will say I don't know. the opportunity to justify. big flashy equipment to run big flashy tillage. on. That's about it. I would say that's probably, like, there is no major drawback. Like, our yields, I think, are comparable, if not better. Our crops, you have wetter crops written down. I don't think that's an issue. But I think it's as long as you're on top of the, you're aware of what herbicides you weeds are present, it's, I mean, it's just different. So yeah, I think the biggest thing is, you're not spending as much money on iron and it's harder to justify buying a $500,000 tractor if it's only going to put on 200 hours a year planting. So what is the tractor fleet here at Burnham Farms? It's old. But in terms of numbers? We basically have three tractors. We've got the big articulate planter and the drill we've got an eight to eight inch drill. Dear which can do, it can run the drill, it does the side dressing, and does any little bit of tillage we have. And then we have a 6R tractor that's basically a utility tractor. And is that for the grain side, or does that work in the port side as well? That's all grain side. has a whole different fleet of small, numerous machines. here in this shop? Yes. Okay, so then if that's the case, where are the wins that that keep you in no-till? Yeah, reduce labour. One of my least favorite things on the farm is managing people. If I was to go back to tillage, I mean it would be into strip till, but if I was to go back into full tillage, I would have and manage those people. We aren't losing our soil. I mean you only have so many inches of soil and that's the soil that erodes is your high fertility. I mean you look at what you spend per acre on buying new ground and if it's eroding whether by wind or water that's expensive and then you look at the It's crazy and that's how I justify the cover crops is basically soil loss alone is paying for every single pound of cover crops I plant. And would you ever have a change of heart and find yourself back with more aggressive tillage equipment? It would probably have to be on a different scale, farming on a different scale, whether tillage or conventional tillage whatever you want to call it on some of our telling an inch and a half deep with a high-speed disc or your your chisel plowing. road. it's going to erode. And so in this area ... I don't think I would ever... it would be... It'd have to be a very lucrative opportunity for me to go back to that situation. Like are you where you want to be? Is there any next steps that you're thinking about? Part of my personality, I just kind of always look for that next level of efficiency. So yeah, I am looking at upgrading some equipment to try and get more towards that controlled traffic or reduce compaction. Like get rid of the cart and dragging behind and try and go to a more mounted system. It's just, which is also makes it easier to handle in our Hills and whatever. So, okay. So we're winding up now. And so, you know, part of this series is to give people different views of how

2:

and their comfort level and the things that they do. You know, what would be your advice to people who are thinking about moving into a more comprehensive no-till system?

1:

Make sure you do your homework. Make sure you understand what is required for the entire system. Whether it be mechanically or other... is massive. Fertility, in my opinion, is massive. - Ahead of when you would start an o-till, get your levels up. or manage within moving to that noose. Yeah, I mean, if you have to do tillage, maybe throw fertility in there while you're doing it.

2:

I don't know.

1:

So if I've made the decision to go to no till, I'm like, boy, am I going to do one more year of big tillage just to mix in the fertility? Maybe that's not the number one solution. But if I have to do corrective tillage, like if we've done tile drainage and we need to go back in and do another pass leveling, yeah, go out and throw a bunch of fertility on to help fix it. your equipment can get that in the ground in the way that you want to or if you're comfortable broadcasting that's fine too. Yeah those are probably yeah, your notes here have levelness and smoothness down which yeah we've taken notice. When you do dootilage, make sure you do a good job because you can't do it too much. You don't want to go back in again and fix it again. - Fix the tillage. - Yeah, so try and fix it, get it fixed. If that requires it several passes. Yeah, like I'm not, yeah, I'm not super strict in my ways, I understand you have to be flexible. You have to be able to do this and that. But yeah, if you do something, try and do it right. - Agreed.

2:

listening to this.