Tillage had no effect on winter squash yields, but did affect cabbage yields in both years, with higher yields observed under tarped, no-till conditions

• Cabbage yields in the tarped, no-till (NTT) plots tended to be greater than yields observed in either of the tilled treatments (conventional rototill and shallow-depth rototill), with the extent of these yield differences sometimes dependent upon whether/what type of mulch was applied.
  • • Yields were most consistently greater in the tarped, no-till (NTT) plots than in conventionally-tilled (CT) plots, whereas yield differences between NTT and the shallow-depth rototilled (ST) plots were more likely to be influenced by mulching treatment.
• Cabbage yields in the no-till (NT) treatment without tarping were lower than yields in the tarped, no-till (NTT) treatment in Y3, suggesting that tarping may provide important nutrient cycling benefits in a no-till system.
  • • **Note: Both no-till treatments received frequent hand-weeding; as such, the researchers postulate that the observed yield differences between NT and NTT in Y3 were the result of soil-related factors (i.e., N availability), rather than weed competition. 
• Cabbage yields in the shallow-depth rototill (ST) treatment were statistically similar to yields in the conventional rototill (CT) treatment (with the exception of CT with rye mulch), suggesting that farmers could maintain high cabbage yields while simultaneously reducing tillage intensity.

Compost mulch increased cabbage and winter squash yields across all tillage systems after the first year of production

• Compost mulch increased crop yields (both cabbage and winter squash) across all tillage systems after Y1. These yield increases were most pronounced in the tarped, no-till (NTT) system. These findings suggest that applying compost mulch may provide significant soil health/nutrient benefits to organic cabbage and winter squash, particularly when combined with tarping in no-till systems. 

No-till production systems were significantly more labor-intensive than tilled systems, although tarping reduced this labor differential

• Labor hours for conventional rototill (CT) and shallow-depth rototill (ST) did not differ in any year or across mulch treatments. No-till (NT) required significantly more labor than tilled systems, especially in the absence of mulch (NM). Hand-weeding accounted for much of the additional labor in no-till systems.
  • • Tarping reduced labor requirements in no-till systems by 41%, but still required 25% more labor than conventional tillage.
• Tarping reduced labor requirements in cabbage, but increased labor requirements in winter squash, suggesting that the benefits of tarping in a no-till system may be highly crop-specific.

Mulches tended to increase pre-harvest labor hours, especially in tilled systems, with rye mulch often requiring the most labor

• Across tilled systems (conventional and shallow-depth), the no-mulch treatment required the least labor, rye mulch required the most, and compost mulch was intermediate.
• Rye mulch significantly increased labor requirements in the tarped, no-till (NTT) treatment, but had no impact on labor in the untarped, no-till (NT) treatment.
  • • **Rye mulch was more effective at suppressing weeds than compost mulch in the no-till systems, but the high labor requirements associated with rye mulch application outweighed any labor reductions in hand-weeding.
• These findings indicate that compost mulch may be a more labor-efficient mulching option than rye in both tilled and no-till production systems. 

Net returns for each treatment were generally correlated with labor requirements, with tilled systems outperforming no-till, but with returns for the tarped, no-till system comparable to tilled systems

• Net returns were significantly affected by tillage in three of the four years; in general, the no-till (NT) treatment was the least profitable.
  • • Tillage treatment effects on net returns were largely attributable to differences in labor requirements.
• Net returns for the tarped, no-till (NTT) treatment were comparable to returns in both tilled systems (conventional and shallow-depth) across all years, suggesting that – despite higher labor requirements – a tarped, no-till system can be economically competitive with tilled systems for certain vegetable crops.