Dennis Baker*, Extension Agriculture and Natural Resources Agent
Phil Rzewnicki, On-Farm Research Coordinator
Objective: To compare tillage effects on corn and soybean yields when using no-till and disk chisel tillage systems in a two-year trial.
Background |
|
| Site:
Nearest Town: Major Soil type: Drainage: Row Width: |
Darke County Farm
Greenville Patton, Crosby Hoytville clay Subsurface 30" |
| 99 Soybean/98 Corn Field | |
| Soil Test Levels: | pH 6.4
P 34 ppm K 164 ppm |
| Fertilizer: | 100 lbs. 0-46-0
125 lbs. 0-0-60 |
| Plant Pop: | No-till 176,176 plants/ac
Chisel 196,504 plants/ac |
| Variety:
Planting Date: Harvest Date: |
Countrymark 3685
May 4 Oct. 2 |
| 99 Corn/98 Soybean Field | |
| Soil Test Levels: | pH 6.8
P 51 K 149 |
| Fertilizer: | 100 lbs. 0-0-60
135 lbs. 18-46-0 braodcast 150 lbs. N with herbicide |
| Plant Pop: | No-till - 20,808 plants/ac
Chisel - 21,816 plants/ac |
| Hybrid:
Planting Date: Harvest Date: |
Pioneer 33Y18
April 30 October 5 |
The two crop fields are adjacent to each other at the same site. Four two-year sequences of tillage treatments were analyzed. The four treatments were placed in a completely randomized design with six replications in each field. Half of the no-till plots were chiseled in 1998 and half the chiseled plots were in no-till in 1998. This was done to allow for comparisons of one year of chiseling and one-year of no-till with continuous no-till and continuous chiseling. The chiseled plots were prepared using a soil commander disk ripper followed by a single pass of a field cultivator with cultipacker. Both crops were planted with a Buffalo slot planter into adequate soil moisture and adequate rainfall for good germination. In this year's corn field, a moderate infestation of wireworm reduced the plant population from a planting rate of 30,000 seeds/acre.
| Two-Year Treatments | |
| Chiseled soybeans following no-till corn | 51.08 bu./ac a |
| Chiseled soybeans following chiseled corn | 50.40 bu./ac a |
| No-till soybeans following chiseled corn | 42.94 bu./ac b |
| No-till soybeans following no-till corn | 37.47 bu./ac c |
| Soybean F = 296.1 (Significant differences to be found), cv = 1.2%, lsd = 1.23 at 5% level of significance. | |
| Chiseled corn following no-till soybeans | 184.650 bu./ac a |
| No-till corn following chiseled soybeans | 182.635 bu./ac a |
| Chiseled corn following chiseled soybeans | 181.703 bu./ac a |
| No-till corn following no-till soybeans | 180.463 bu./ac a |
| Corn F < 1 (No significant differences), cv = 2.3%, lsd = 9.22 at 5% level of significance.
Means with the same letter are not significantly different. |
|
Soybean yields in the chiseled plots were significantly higher than no-till. This same field showed a yield advantage in chiseled plots for corn of 32 bushels per acre following 1997 no-till soybeans. The field had been in no-till corn and soybean rotation since 1993. As this year's soybeans developed, a very obvious difference in plant height was apparent with the no-till soybeans being several inches shorter and never completely filling between the rows. Two years of no-till in the trial (seven straight years of no-till) yielded significantly less soybeans then the three other two-year sequences.
There were no significant differences in the corn yields in the 1999 chiseled plots when compared to no-till. This same field showed no significant differences between no-till soybeans and chiseled soybeans in 1998. Like the other field, it had been in a no-till corn and soybean rotation since 1993.
It appears that there is some factor in this year's soybean field that limits yield when planting no-till corn or soybeans. This trial demonstrates that the advantages of keeping a field in long-term no-till management or chiseling after several years of no-till can be location-specific.
*For further information, contact:
OSU Extension, Darke County, 700 Wayne St.. Greenville, OH 45331
937-548-5215 baker.5@osu.edu