The Economics Of Using Reduced Tillage For Corn On Cash Crop Farms

Author : Martine Trip
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (14 download)

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Download or read book Effects of Reduced Tillage on (cash) Crop Yields, Soil Quality and Other Ecosystem Services written by Martine Trip and published by . This book was released on 2023 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Decreasing soil quality, worsened by climate change-related weather extremes, is prompting the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture's aim for sustainable management of all agricultural soils by 2030. One proposed practice for this goal is reduced tillage, which offers potential benefits such as improved soil structure and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. However reduced tillage comes with potential drawbacks such as topsoil compaction and yield reduction. While global meta-analyses mainly focus on effects of reduced tillage in North and South American cash crops, like grains, maize and soy, this long-term Dutch farming systems experiment called BASIS is unique in its focus on Dutch small seeded, root and tuber crops. The BASIS experiment, established in 2009 by Wageningen University and Research in Lelystad, consists of three organic and two conventional fields with common Dutch crop rotations. In BASIS we experiment with three tillage systems: conventional tillage with mouldboard plough (CT), reduced tillage with sub-soiling (RTS), and reduced tillage without sub-soiling (RT). Reduced tillage with shallow ploughing was added (RT/SPL) later in the experiment. The experiment employs controlled traffic farming (CTF) and is a randomized complete block design with four replicates per tillage system and field. In the BASIS experiment a system approach is used; this allowed for the experiment to be optimized during the project period. Effects of reduced tillage on ecosystems services such as yield, yield quality and soil quality were investigated. Overall, reduced tillage systems showed comparable or higher marketable yield for most crops, except for fineseeded crops like carrots and onions. The Twinrotor tiller seems a viable option in reduced tillage systems to create a finer seedbed and reduce the yield gap of carrots between reduced and conventional tillage. The influence of extreme weather conditions on reduced tillage effects varied, with yields sometimes higher and sometimes lower compared to conventional tillage. Over time the differences in marketable yield between reduced and conventional tillage showed no increasing or decreasing trend. For yield quality, the difference between gross yield and marketable product, there were no significant differences nor discernible trends between the tillage systems; with the expedition of carrots which showed a lower yield quality under reduced tillage, with larger-sized and deformed carrots. This was likely caused by cover crop residue and soil aggregate size. The impact of reduced soil tillage on crop quality parameters such as sugar content (sugar beet) and thousand grain weight (cereal crops) showed no significant differences between the tillage systems. Bulk density showed no differences in the upper 0-10 cm layer, but significantly higher values were observed in the deeper 10-20 cm layer for reduced tillage. Soil moisture was generally higher for reduced tillage in the upper 0-10 cm layer, while conventional tillage exhibited higher moisture in the lower 10-20 cm layer. Penetration resistance was consistently greater for reduced tillage, particularly in the 10-30 cm layer. Despite these soil property differences, there was no substantial evidence of decreased yields or root limitations. The increased compaction under reduced tillage could potentially enhance soil bearing capacity. Reduced tillage leads to higher soil organic matter and carbon content in the upper 0-15 cm layer compared to conventional tillage. However, in lower layers no significant difference were found. Reduced tillage shows minimal impact on soil pH. Total nitrogen content is higher in the upper 0-15 cm layer for reduced tillage. Other nutrient availabilities are not strongly influenced by tillage systems. Mineral nitrogen levels in the soil are very low in this experiment and differences between tillage systems are small. Overall, reduced tillage increases soil organic matter, carbon, and nitrogen in the upper layer (0-15 cm), with a trend towards higher values in the 0-30 cm layer. To summarize, the BASIS experiment shows that reduced tillage is a viable option for most of the Dutch crops and indicates a trend towards improved soil quality.