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ARS Home » Plains Area » Bushland, Texas » Conservation and Production Research Laboratory » Soil and Water Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #417000
Research Project: Dryland and Irrigated Crop Management Under Limited Water Availability and Drought

Location: Soil and Water Management Research

Title: Cover crop grazing effects on soil properties in no-tillage dryland cropping systems in the central Great Plains

Author
item SIMON, LOGAN - Kansas State University
item OBOUR, AUGUSTINE - Kansas State University
item HOLMAN, JONATHAN - Kansas State University
item JOHNSON, SANDY - Kansas State University
item ROOZEBOOM, KRAIG - Kansas State University

Submitted to: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/26/2024
Publication Date: 7/1/2024
Citation: Simon, L.M., Obour, A.K., Holman, J.D., Johnson, S.K., Roozeboom, K.L. 2024. Cover crop grazing effects on soil properties in no-tillage dryland cropping systems in the central Great Plains. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. 374. Article 109140. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2024.109140.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2024.109140

Interpretive Summary: Economically sustainable agricultural production on the Great Plains is challenging as irrigation is abandoned and more acreage is converted to dryland production. One strategy toward sustainability is to increase profits by grazing cover crops in dryland no-tillage production systems. However, little is known about how cattle grazing affects soil properties tied to effective rainfall infiltration and susceptibility to wind erosion. Scientists from Kansas State University supported by the USDA ARS Ogallala Aquifer Program studied cattle grazing effects for four years (2018-2021) on producers’ fields in western Kansas. They showed that controlling grazing to remove up to 40% of cover crop had no negative effect on soil properties, while soil organic carbon increased. Grazing cover crops was shown to be a viable management option to intensify and improve profitability of no-tillage dryland cropping systems.

Technical Abstract: Integrating ruminant livestock such as beef cattle (Bos taurus L.) to graze cover crops (CCs) could balance goals of short-term profitability and long-term environmental sustainability when CCs are grown in water-limited environments like the central Great Plains (CGP), USA. However, little information currently exists about the effects of CC grazing on soil properties in no-tillage (NT) dryland cropping systems, especially after multiple cycles of grazing. This study was conducted from 2018 to 2021 to evaluate the effects of beef cattle grazing CCs on residue return, soil bulk density (BD) and penetration resistance (PR), water stable aggregates (WSA) and wind-erodible fraction (WEF), as well as soil pH and nutrient concentrations on three producer fields in central and western Kansas. Across sites, CC biomass left as residue post-grazing was similar to pre-grazing and was 60 % of the ungrazed CCs (3704 kg ha -1) because of CC regrowth after the 30–40'day grazing period. Soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks and potassium concentrations were greater with grazed CCs compared to ungrazed CCs possibly due to substantial CC residue retention following grazing coupled with manure and urine deposition. Therefore, based on these results, grazing of CCs is a viable management option for producers to intensify NT dryland cropping systems to improve soil health and maintain or increase overall system profitability in the CGP.