TY - JOUR
T1 - Corn residue, tillage, and nitrogen rate effects on soil properties
AU - Villamil, María B.
AU - Little, Joseph
AU - Nafziger, Emerson D.
N1 - This research was supported in part by the North Central Regional Sun Grant Center at South Dakota State University through a grant provided by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Biomass Programs # 802 DOE Sub SDSU 3TP146 , and through a grant from the Illinois Fertilizer Research & Education Council , Project # 335 . We acknowledge with gratitude the work of Lyle Paul, Eric Adee, Martin Johnson, Mike Vose, Mike Kleiss, Jeff Warren, and Gevan Behnke in plot care and sample collection and analyses.
PY - 2015/8/1
Y1 - 2015/8/1
N2 - Harvesting corn (Zea mays L.) residue for use as a biofuel feedstock may alter important chemical and physical properties of soils. Long-term residue removal, linked with tillage and fertilizer practices, could lower soil organic carbon (SOC), as well as increase soil compaction and susceptibility to erosion. A study initiated in 2006 included three levels of residue removal (none, partial, or full removal), two tillage treatments (no-till or chisel plow), and two N application rates (134 and 268. kg. N/ha). These experiments were established in continuous corn (CC) at four Illinois sites, with treatments remaining in the same plots each year. In the spring at the beginning of the eighth growing season, we measured total carbon stocks (SOC), water aggregate stability (WAS), soil bulk density (BD), and penetration resistance (PR). Results showed that with all crop residue retained in the field, SOC stocks 13% lower under chisel tillage than in no-tilled plots, but removal of some or all of the residue lowered the SOC levels of no-tilled plots to those of tilled plots. On average for the studied depths, no-till plots had 5% and 39% higher BD and PR, respectively, than tilled plots, and residue removal significantly increased PR under no-till. Regardless of tillage treatment, the highest WAS values were found without residue removal at the lower N rate and with partial removal at the higher N rate. The higher N rate slightly lowered the BD under partial removal of residue for both tillage treatments at both studied depths. Our results indicate that residue harvest generates modest changes in soil properties under continuous corn, likely smaller than the effects of tillage and N fertilizer use in these systems. But as long as residue amount and tillage practices are sufficient to limit losses of soil by erosion to acceptable levels, we believe that corn residue represents a viable feedstock for a sustainable bioenergy industry in the U.S. Midwest.
AB - Harvesting corn (Zea mays L.) residue for use as a biofuel feedstock may alter important chemical and physical properties of soils. Long-term residue removal, linked with tillage and fertilizer practices, could lower soil organic carbon (SOC), as well as increase soil compaction and susceptibility to erosion. A study initiated in 2006 included three levels of residue removal (none, partial, or full removal), two tillage treatments (no-till or chisel plow), and two N application rates (134 and 268. kg. N/ha). These experiments were established in continuous corn (CC) at four Illinois sites, with treatments remaining in the same plots each year. In the spring at the beginning of the eighth growing season, we measured total carbon stocks (SOC), water aggregate stability (WAS), soil bulk density (BD), and penetration resistance (PR). Results showed that with all crop residue retained in the field, SOC stocks 13% lower under chisel tillage than in no-tilled plots, but removal of some or all of the residue lowered the SOC levels of no-tilled plots to those of tilled plots. On average for the studied depths, no-till plots had 5% and 39% higher BD and PR, respectively, than tilled plots, and residue removal significantly increased PR under no-till. Regardless of tillage treatment, the highest WAS values were found without residue removal at the lower N rate and with partial removal at the higher N rate. The higher N rate slightly lowered the BD under partial removal of residue for both tillage treatments at both studied depths. Our results indicate that residue harvest generates modest changes in soil properties under continuous corn, likely smaller than the effects of tillage and N fertilizer use in these systems. But as long as residue amount and tillage practices are sufficient to limit losses of soil by erosion to acceptable levels, we believe that corn residue represents a viable feedstock for a sustainable bioenergy industry in the U.S. Midwest.
KW - Chisel
KW - N fertilization
KW - No till
KW - Penetration resistance
KW - Residue harvest
KW - Soil bulk density
KW - Soil carbon stocks
KW - Water aggregate stability
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U2 - 10.1016/j.still.2015.03.005
DO - 10.1016/j.still.2015.03.005
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84924679724
SN - 0167-1987
VL - 151
SP - 61
EP - 66
JO - Soil and Tillage Research
JF - Soil and Tillage Research
ER -