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ARS Home » Plains Area » Lincoln, Nebraska » Agroecosystem Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #408630
Research Project: Evaluating Management Strategies to Increase Agroecosystem Productivity, Resilience, and Viability

Location: Agroecosystem Management Research

Title: Tillage and stover removal impacts on irrigated corn production and soil carbon: a twenty year assessment

Author
item Schmer, Marty
item Ramirez, Salvador
item Jin, Virginia
item Varvel, Gary

Submitted to: ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meeting Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/8/2023
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Demand for corn (Zea mays L.) stover as forage or as bioenergy has increased the importance of determining the effects of stover removal on biomass production and the soil resource. Our objectives were to evaluate grain yield, soil organic C (SOC), and total soil N (0–150 cm) in a 20-yr, irrigated, continuous corn study in eastern Nebraska under conventional disk tillage (CT) and no-till (NT) with variable corn stover removal rates (none, medium, and high).The experimental design is a randomized complete block with factorial treatments arranged in split plots. The whole-plot factor is tillage treatment (NT or CT) and the subplot factor is none (0%), medium (~35%), and high (~70%) stover removal calculated on a mass basis. Results have shown differences in grain yield by tillage and residue in the first 10 years of the study and further analysis will look at trends for the last 20 years. Similarly, SOC declined after 10 yr under CT at 0 to 15 cm and overall cumulative SOC stock trends after 20 years of tillage and residue management were similar.