While California researchers and relatively few farmers have successfully proven the efficacy of conservation tillage (CT) in the region, the adoption of the practice in the San Joaquin Valley (SJV) remains low. The gap between successful integration of these practices on farms and widespread adoption highlights the need to study the barriers limiting adoption. A combination of survey and interview methods was used to characterize CT adopters and non-adopters in the SJV and to learn directly from farmers about the barriers to CT adoption and the process of adoption used by current CT farmers. The survey quantified responses from 304 farmers about their attitudes toward CT, and the interviews collected more in depth information from 9 SJV farmers representing adopters and non-adopters. Larger farms with less crop diversity had higher levels of CT adoption which is of importance in the Central Valley region known for its diverse vegetable cropping rotations. Farmers who are not using CT indicated that "CT won't work for [their] crops" and that the economics had not yet been proven for this region. Survey and interview based insight from farmers already using CT suggests that, like many agricultural innovations, CT requires a commitment to gaining the knowledge and direct experience required to make it work. An additional and unexpected finding of this work is that farmers have different definitions of conservation tillage. Not only do farmers have different CT definitions but the farmers who have adopted CT have had to adapt CT systems that address challenges unique to their farms. Based on the findings of this work, extension efforts to increase adoption of CT will be most successful if they make clear the various challenges that can arise during CT adoption and offer continued support and assistance for farmers to develop their CT system. Increasing CT adoption in the SJV would contribute to maintaining soil health and reducing costs of production in a region of high agricultural production.