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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Adaptive Cropping Systems Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #309977
Title: Effects of tillage practices on drainage and nitrate leaching from winter wheat in the Northern Atlantic Coastal-Plain USA

Author
item Meisinger, John
item PALMER, ROBERT - University Of Maryland
item Timlin, Dennis

Submitted to: Soil and Tillage Research
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/23/2015
Publication Date: 3/9/2015
Citation: Meisinger, J.J., Palmer, R.J., Timlin, D.J. 2015. Effects of tillage practices on drainage and nitrate leaching from winter wheat in the Northern Atlantic Coastal-Plain USA. Soil and Tillage Research. 151:18-27.

Interpretive Summary: Tillage and nitrogen management strategies for winter wheat in the mid-Atlantic region must balance agronomic production with practices to reduce nitrate leaching. In the mid-Atlantic winter wheat is commonly grown using no-tillage culture, but few studies have evaluated the effects of no-tillage on nitrate leaching for winter wheat. A four-year lysimeter study was conducted in Beltsville, Maryland that grew winter wheat in eight tension-drained undisturbed soil-column lysimeters (16 inch diameter by 3 feet deep) configured to exclude runoff, in order to compare the effects of no-tillage vs. plow-tillage and nitrogen fertilization practices on drainage volumes and nitrate-nitrogen leaching. Additional data documented the wheat total nitrogen uptake and bromide leaching, that was used as a tracer for water movement. The pattern of drainage over the wheat growing-season showed that no-tillage produced significant, but modestly higher, drainage volumes compared to plow-tillage during the fall establishment season (mid-Oct. to mid-Dec.), which was attributed to greater water evaporation in the non-residue covered plow-tillage lysimeters. The increased fall drainage with no-tillage also increased fall nitrate leaching for no-tillage compared to plow-tillage, especially following high rainfalls. However, this greater risk for fall nitrate-leaching with no-tillage decreased in the spring, as tillage effects subsided and wheat water-use and nitrogen-uptake became dominant. The increased fall leaching risk with no-tillage can be managed by reducing fall-nitrogen applications. However, both no-tillage and plow-tillage can benefit from reduced spring nitrate leaching by splitting spring nitrogen applications so they coincide with the timing of wheat nitrogen demand. The final nitrate leaching losses depend on the interactions of precipitation timing and amount with the timing and rate of nitrogen applications, and the initial soil water content. The results of this study are useful to Extension agents, NRCS agents, and private nutrient consultants for developing nutrient management plans that will increase nitrogen use efficiency in winter wheat, which will reduce nitrogen losses to the water resources entering the Chesapeake Bay.

Technical Abstract: Management strategies for winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) in the mid-Atlantic must balance agronomic production with practices to reduce nitrate-N (NO3-N) leaching. In the mid-Atlantic winter wheat is commonly grown using no-tillage (NT), but few studies have evaluated the effects of NT on NO3-N leaching for winter wheat. A four-year lysimeter study was conducted in Beltsville, MD that grew winter wheat in eight tension-drained undisturbed soil-column lysimeters (41 cm diameter by 100 cm deep) configured to exclude runoff, to compare the effects of NT vs. plow-tillage (PT) culture and N fertilization practices on drainage volumes and NO3-N leaching. Additional data documented wheat total N uptake and bromide leaching. The temporal pattern of drainage showed that NT produced significant, but modestly higher, drainage volumes than PT during fall establishment (mid-Oct. to mid-Dec.), which increased the potential for NO3-N leaching, especially following high rainfalls. However, the greater risk of NO3-N leaching with NT during establishment decreased in the spring as tillage effects subsided and wheat water-use and N uptake became dominant. The increased fall leaching risk with NT can be managed by reducing fall-N applications, but both NT and PT can benefit from reduced NO3-N leaching resulting from spring split-N applications. The final NO3-N leaching losses depend on the interactions of precipitation timing and amount, fertilizer-N rate and timing, and initial soil water status. Additional winter-wheat NO3-N leaching research is needed to expand the results of this study to a wider range of soils, to assess high-residue vertical-tillage implements, and to evaluate precision application of spring fertilizer-N.