Van Eerd, L. L., Congreves, K. A., Hayes, A., Verhallen, A. and Hooker, D. C. 2014. Long-term tillage and crop rotation effects on soil quality, organic carbon, and total nitrogen. Can. J. Soil Sci. 94: 303-315. Long-term studies allow for quantification of the effects of crop production practices, such as tillage and crop rotation, on soil quality and soil C and N stores. In two experiments at Ridgetown, ON, we evaluated the long-term (11 and 15 yr) effect of tillage system and crop rotation on soil quality via the Cornell Soil Health Assessment (CSHA) at 0-15 cm and soil organic C (SOC) and total N at 5-, 10-, and 20-cm increments to 120 cm depth. The CSHA soil quality score and SOC and total N were higher with no-till (NT) than fall moldboard plough with spring cultivation (conventional tillage, CT) and rotations with winter wheat [soybean-winter wheat (S-W) and soybean-winter wheat-corn (S-W-C)] compared with rotations without winter wheat. In both long-term trials, NT had ca. 21 Mg ha-1 more or 14% higher SOC than CT in the 0- to 100-cm soil profile, a trend which contrasts previous research in eastern Canada. Thus, the two long-term trial results at Ridgetown suggest that to improve soil quality and storage of C and N, growers on clay loam soil in southwestern Ontario should consider adopting NT production practices and including winter wheat in the rotation.
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5 May 2014
Long-term tillage and crop rotation effects on soil quality, organic carbon, and total nitrogen
Laura L. Van Eerd,
Katelyn A. Congreves,
Adam Hayes,
Anne Verhallen,
David C. Hooker
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Canadian Journal of Soil Science
Vol. 94 • No. 3
August 2014
Vol. 94 • No. 3
August 2014
assolement soja-blé d'hiver-maïs
continuous corn
Cornell Soil Health Assessment
Cornell Soil Health Assessment
labours au versoir/soc
moldboard plow/plough tillage
monoculture du maïs