Skip to main content
ARS Home » Midwest Area » Morris, Minnesota » Soil Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #59193
Title: AFTER CRP: TILLAGE SYSTEMS EFFECT ON WATER RUNOFF AND SOIL EROSION

Author
item Lindstrom, Michael
item SCHUMACHER, T - SOUTH DAKOTA STATE UNIV.

Submitted to: Conservation Reserve Program Workshop Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/8/1995
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) authorized by the 1985 United States Congressional Farm Bill compensated farmers for returning highly erodible or environmentally sensitive land to permanent sod cover. This project was designed to measure how these lands will respond when brought back into crop production and the erodability of these lands after long-term sod. Plots were initiated in an established alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.)-smooth bromegrass (Bromus inermis Leyss.) sod across an eroded landscape. Initial treatments established in the alfalfa-bromegrass sod were moldboard plow, chisel plow, and no-till in the spring of 1990. In each subsequent year through 1993, another no- till treatment was established. A continuous corn (Zea mays L.) rotation was grown on all plots. Rainulator trials were conducted in 1993 on all treatments and on the alfalfa-bromegrass sod check. Artificial rainfall was applied at an intensity of 63.5 mm hr**-1 for 60 min in a dry run on antecedent soil moisture and a wet run a minimum of 6 hours after the dry run, but most commonly the next day. The grass check and all no- till treatments had no water runoff or soil erosion. The moldboard plow treatment was highly erodible. Corn yields were not significantly different among tillage systems. Results from this study show that no- till management will be an acceptable option for erodible lands that have been in long-term sod.