"Putting Down the Plow in Oklahoma"

"The Sooner State is part of a trend toward leaving farmland untilled to tackle runoff and climate change, but some remain wary of associated pesticide use".

"NORMAN, Oklahoma—When Greg Scott teaches people about soil health, the front row better beware.

The soil scientist from Oklahoma hauls around a rain simulator that holds bins of soil you’d see on different types of farmland.

When he flicked his contraption on in Norman, Oklahoma, last week at a journalist’s conference, shoes and notepads got wet. But what didn’t get very wet was the bin of dirt that mimicked tilled land, a common method of digging and stirring up the soil before planting.

The water passed quickly through the soil and ended up in a jug, resembling a thick, hoppy ale when the demonstration was over."

Brian Bienkowski reports for Environmental Health News October 15, 2015.