The general objectives of this study are to determine the production costs for both
conventional tillage and no-till (direct seeded with a no-till drill or air seeder) wheat production
in Oklahoma for farms of different size. More specifically, the objectives are to determine the
costs of conventional tillage and no-till management farm practices for each of four farm sizes
(320, 640, 1,280, and 2,560-acres) from monoculture wheat used to produce grain.

Methods

The number and type of field operations (tillage, seeding, herbicide application,
insecticide application, fertilizer application, and harvest) for both conventional tillage and no-
till production systems are listed in Table 1. For the conventional tillage system it was assumed
that the field would be tilled after harvest in June with either a moldboard plow (20%) or chisel
(80%). It was assumed that 20% of the farm would be plowed each year so that each field is
plowed with a moldboard once in five years. A disk operation is budgeted for August followed
by urea (46-0-0) application and disk operation in September. A final tillage operation is
conducted in October prior to seeding with a conventional drill or conventional air seeder. For
the no-till system, glyphosate applications are budgeted for June, August, and prior to planting in
October. A no-till drill or no-till air seeder is used to plant the wheat in October. An April
insecticide application is budgeted for both systems. Table 2 includes a list of the operating
input prices and application rates for both systems. Applications of fertilizer, seed, and
insecticide are assumed to be the same for both systems.

Machinery Selection

Available tractors and machines were determined from personal interviews with dealers
and confirmed by information posted on manufacturers’ websites. Table 3 includes the list
prices of available tractors and machines as well as machine widths. The list prices for drills and

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