Tillage Residue Cover 

Tillage has been used to produce crops since the first producer planted a seed, and the implements were simple: hoes and shovels.
On today's, there are often huge pieces of equipment pulled by huge tractors, and the larger the operation (area farmed), the larger the tractors and equipment tend to be.
Even small equipment makes major changes to the soil environment. The main factor affected by tillage is the amount of residue remaining on the soil surface after the event. There are many types of plows, and each type has a different effect on the residue and the soil itself.
Every time an implement is pulled through the field, some soil is compacted, some soil structure is destroyed, and some implements are much more destructive than others.
A beautiful agricultural soil is one that always has some type of cover on the soil surface, either plant residues (plant parts remaining on the soil surface after harvest) or growing plants such as cover crops.
Maintaining cover on the soil surface is one of the primary best management practices (BMPs) for erosion control because the cover reduces the energy of the water or wind at the soil surface, and reducing energy reduces erosion.