What’s wrong with plowing (tillage)?

When you till the soil, you are effectively disturbing millions of microbial activity in the soil.

See it as a home.  You have built your home, you have put in a fireplace to keep warm in the winter and cook your foods.  You have doors and windows to allow fresh air, you have stairs and plumping.  It all works like a well oiled machine.  Now imagine if someone where to come with a bulldozer and crash everything and disrupt your plumbing and flooring.  Plowing and tillage is very much the same thing.  Soil is home to millions of microorganisms and it works like a well oiled machine. It increases carbon cycling, nutrition for the plants, prevents soil erosion and builds biomass.

Mycorrhizal fungi

One of these fun guys is Mycorrhizal fungi.  Mycorrhizal fungi have a symbiotic relationship with the plant roots.  This relationship helps plants acquire nutrients from the soil that it would otherwise not struggle to acquire. In short, tillage destroys soil structure, water infiltration and soil erosion.