Soil Health & Tillage Long-term Impacts

Transcription

1 Soil Health & Tillage Long-term Impacts Francisco J. Arriaga Soil Science Specialist Dept. of Soil Science & UW-Extension Office phone:

2 Functions of Soil & Soil Health Soil health is the capacity of a specific kind of soil to function, within natural or managed ecosystem boundaries, to sustain plant and animal productivity, maintain or enhance water and air quality, and support human health and habitation. (Karlen et al., 1997) source: Brady & Weil, 1996

3 Soil Functions Indicators Medium for plant growth Recycle/store nutrients & organic materials Habitat for soil organisms Water storage & purification Texture Structure Infiltration & bulk density Water holding capacity Aggregate stability Soil organic matter ph Extractable N,P, & K Microbial biomass C & N Potentially mineralizable N Soil respiration

4 Soil Properties Affected by SOM Physical infiltration water retention hydraulic conductivity bulk density Chemical CEC nutrient availability buffering capacity source: soilquality.org A2809 Table 6.3

5 (Lado, Paz and Ben-Hur, 2004)

6 Role of Soil Organic Matter Physical soil properties Chemical soil properties Sands: 3 5 meq/100 g Silt loam: meq/100 g Clays: meq/100 g Organic soils: meq/100 g Source: Magdoff and van Es, 2009

7 How is Soil Organic Matter Lost? Moldboard No Till Cumulative CO 2 (kg C/ha) Time Since Plowing (days) (Rochette and Angers, 1999)

8 Farming for Soil Organic Matter (adapted from National Academy of Sciences, 2009)

9 Tillage Trends: WDATCP WinTransect Data - Corn Tillage % No-till Chisel Moldboard Other 1 2 8

10 Tillage Trends: WDATCP WinTransect Data - Soybean Tillage % No-till Chisel Moldboard Other

11 Corn Yield Tillage: conventional reduced no-till (Stine & Weil, 2002)

12 Water Availability for Crops Water infiltration of five different tillage systems NT=No-till ST=Strip-tillage (in-row) DR=Deep Rip CP=Chisel Plow MP=Moldboard Plow (Al-Kaisi, 2011) Approximately ¼ of water is lost from the soil with every tillage pass. source: M. Licht & M. Al-Kaisi, 2013

13 SOM & Soil Water Retention Plant Available Water (PAW = FC PWP) 40 WP % silt loam Soil Water Content, % FC % Difference in Plant Available Water = 0.5 inches/ft Soil Organic Matter, % 40 WP % loamy sand Soil Water Content, % FC % Difference in Plant Available Water = 0.3 inches/ft Soil Organic Matter, %

14 Recharging the Soil Profile with Water photo: Prairie Fire, Aug 2010 Corn stalks of 12 in height can hold snow in the field, and has been estimated to account for 1 to 2 of additional water in the soil profile. source: M. Licht & M. Al-Kaisi, 2013

15 Why Does Soil Health Matters? Eroded field example: source: S. Papiernik, 2013

16 Why Does Soil Health Matters? source: S. Papiernik, 2013

17 Why Does Soil Health Matters? source: S. Papiernik, 2013

18 Why Does Soil Health Matters? cont. Erosion level - Slight - Moderate - Severe Source: Arriaga and Lowery, 2003a

19 How Can the Health of a Soil be Improved? Measurement Organic matter Infiltration Aggregation ph Microbial biomass Forms of N Bulk density Topsoil depth Available nutrients Process Affected Nutrient cycling, pesticide and water retention, soil structure Runoff and leaching potential, plant water use efficiency, erosion potential Soil structure, erosion resistance, crop emergence, infiltration Nutrient availability, pesticide absorption and mobility Biological activity, nutrient cycling, capacity to degrade pesticides Availability to plants, leaching potential, mineralization and immobilization rates Root penetration, water/air filled pores, biological activity Rooting volume, water and nutrient availability Capacity to support plant growth, environmental hazard (adapted from Karlen et al. SSSAJ, 1997)

20 It is About Management! Source: Case Quick Start Guide Licht & Al-Kaisi, 2004

21 Location: Arlington, WI Soil: Plano silt loam Long-Term Rotation Study Objective: determine tillage response in rotational systems that increase the amount of corn in the cycles Researcher: Joe Lauer, Corn Agronomist Treatments: Tillage: CT (chisel, 2x field cultivations) & NT Rotation: 14 sequences with corn & soybean that have every phase present every year (CC, CS & 5C-5S) source: J. Lauer, Agronomy Advice, July

22 Field Day August 2013

23 Water Infiltration Field Day August 2013 Conventional No-tillage photos: Roger Schmidt, NPM Program

24 Root Growth Field Day August 2013 Conventional No-tillage photos: Roger Schmidt, NPM Program

25 CT Roto-tilled NT Soil Organic Matter Field Day August 2013 Organic matter oxidation Conc. H 2 O 2 NT Roto-tilled CT Aggregate stability Slake test photos: F. Arriaga, Soil Science

26 Corn Yield Response to Tillage source: J. Lauer, Agronomy Advice, July

27 Crop Rotation & Tillage Interaction Years in Corn after 5-yrs of Soybean source: J. Lauer, Agronomy Advice, July

28 Fuel Use by Different Tillage Tillage Gallons per acre Cost per acre Chisel 1.10 $ 3.74 Disk, offset 0.95 $ 3.23 Disk, tandem (stalks) 0.45 $ 1.53 Disk, tandem (chisel) 0.55 $ 1.87 Disk, tandem (plowed) 0.65 $ 2.21 Field cultivate 0.60 $ 2.04 Harrow 0.35 $ 1.19 Moldboard 8 deep 1.68 $ 5.71 Strip-till 0.60 $ 2.04 Off-road Diesel $3.40 per gal Farm Economics Facts & Opinions Univ. of Illinois Urbana-Champaign US Energy Information Administration, Nov 2013

29 Estimated Cost of Fuel for Tillage Operations Tillage system Conventional Fuel cost of operation * - fall chisel operation $ $ per acre field cultivate (x2) $ 2.04 x 2 = $ 4.08 Total fuel tillage costs $ 7.82 No-tillage (direct seeding) $ 0 $ 0 DIFFERENCE - $ 7.82 * Assumes off-road diesel cost of $3.40 per gallon (US Energy Information Administration, Nov 2013)

30 Soil 2 Depth 100 Residue (%) Chisel Strip-till No-till 0 Courtesy: R.P. Wolkowski source: R.P. Wolkowski

31 Tillage And Rotation Effect On Corn Yield Arlington, WI (10 Year Avg.) 200 Chisel Strip-till No-till Yield (bu/a) % -8 % -5 % 140 CC SbC source: R.P. Wolkowski

32 When to Consider Production Costs? ROTATION/TILLAGE AVG. YIELD (BU/A) COP ($/BU) COMPARED TO CH ($/BU) Continuous Corn Chisel Strip-till No-till Corn after Soybean Chisel Strip-till No-till Soybean after Corn Chisel Strip-till No-till * - yield is an average from , Arlington WI (NHSS issue #2 2008, Wolkowski, Cox and Leverich)

33 Rotation & Tillage Effect on Corn 0 lb N/ac 50 lb N/ac Corn Alfalfa Corn Soybean Corn Alfalfa Corn Soybean Grain yield, bu/acre Corn Alfalfa 100 lb N/ac Continuous Corn Corn Soybean Corn Alfalfa Continuous Corn 200 lb N/ac Corn Soybean Continuous Corn Continuous Corn CC chisel, disk & cultimulcher CA no-till CS no-till (Stanger & Lauer, Agron. J. 2008)

34 Closing Remarks No-tillage (direct seeding)and other reduced tillage practices help protect the soil from erosion and improve soil health through increases in soil organic matter Overtime, these benefits can help improve economic returns. However, other management practices can affect the magnitude of these benefits.

35 Thank You! Any Questions? Francisco J. Arriaga Office phone: