| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
|
|
|
|||||||
|
|||||||||
USDA-ARS N.W. Irrigation & Soils Res. Lab, 3793 North 3600 East, Kimberly, ID 83341-5076
USDA-ARS Northern Plains Soil and Water Res. Ctr., P.O. Box 1109, Sidney, MT 59270
* Corresponding author (Email: !a03lckimberl{at}attmail.com).
Summer fallow is the most common cultural practice in the northern Great Plains. With proper cultural management, however, annual cropping may be feasible and economical. Our objective was to determine crop and soil response to nontraditional annual cropping prxtices (till and no-till) in lieu of conventional fallow-crop rotation for the production of spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and barley (Hordeum vulgure L.) in the northern Great Plains. The study, initiated in 1983, was on a Dooley sandy loam (fine-loamy, mixed Typic Argiboroll) 11 km north of Culbertson, MT. Tillage practices on annually cropped treatments included sweep tillage in autumn and disk tillage in spring; sweep tillage in spring; and no-tillage. Conventional fallow-spring wheat rotations were included as the control. With three exceptions, there were no statistical differences among treatments in soil P, soil nitrate N, and pH. Phosphorus and N were nonlimiting in all years; pH decreased about 0.06 units per year in the 0- to 8-cm layer because of N fertilization. Bulk density differences in the 0- to 10-cm layer appeared after 7 yr, with the lowest bulk density for the no-tillage annual crop treatment. Grain and straw yields with the no-tillage treatment were both 80% of yields with the fallow-crop treatment. Total water use efficiency, based on soil water differences between harvest of one crop and harvest of the next, was significantly grPater with no-tillage than with the fallow-crop treatment. Soil organic C decreased nearly 0.4 g kg–1 per year with the fallow-crop treatment; there was a negligible decline with the notillage annual crop treatment. No-tillage annual spring wheat crop production was the most efficient crop and soil management practice from the standpoint of yield, water use efficiency, soil organic C, and bulk density.
Received for publication August 5, 1994.
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  U. M. Sainju, T. Caesar-TonThat, A. W. Lenssen, R. G. Evans, and R. Kolberg Long-Term Tillage and Cropping Sequence Effects on Dryland Residue and Soil Carbon Fractions Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., September 28, 2007; 71(6): 1730 - 1739. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 R. J. Lopez-Bellido, L. Lopez-Bellido, J. Benitez-Vega, and F. J. Lopez-Bellido Tillage System, Preceding Crop, and Nitrogen Fertilizer in Wheat Crop: II. Water Utilization Agron. J., January 1, 2007; 99(1): 66 - 72. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
J. L. Pikul Jr., J. K. Aase, and V. L. Cochran Water Use and Biomass Production of Oat-Pea Hay and Lentil in a Semiarid Climate Agron. J., January 1, 2004; 96(1): 298 - 304. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
J. L. Pikul Jr. and J. K. Aase Water Infiltration and Storage affected by Subsoiling and Subsequent Tillage Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., May 1, 2003; 67(3): 859 - 866. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
T. O. West and W. M. Post Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration Rates by Tillage and Crop Rotation: A Global Data Analysis Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., November 1, 2002; 66(6): 1930 - 1946. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
J. L. Hatfield, T. J. Sauer, and J. H. Prueger Managing Soils to Achieve Greater Water Use Efficiency: A Review Agron. J., March 1, 2001; 93(2): 271 - 280. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
| The SCI Journals | Crop Science | Vadose Zone Journal | |||
| Journal of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Education |
Soil Science Society of America Journal | ||||
| Journal of Plant Registrations | Journal of Environmental Quality |
The Plant Genome | |||
