Tilling can lead to erosion and is labor and fuel intensive. Using cover crops and hand tools (rakes and hoes) may work for small scale farms, but how can a large scale operation start cover cropping and stop tilling?
Rodale institute realized that incorporating no-till farming into large scale operations was going to require new specialized equipment. Small scale organic farms have previously had great success using hand tools to manage cover crops such as garden hoes and rakes. However, implementing these old technologies on a large farm would be extremely labor intensive. So Rodale Institute came up with a solution: the Roller Crimper.
The Roller Crimper is a water filled drum attached to the front of the tractor that is able to cut down the cover crop every seven inches, which kills the plant and provides a dense mulch that stops weeds from growing. The back of the tractor has implements that then divide the mulch for a seed to be inserted then cover the seed back up. All of this happens in one single pass with the tractor saving time and labor for the farmer while nurturing the soil.
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