Corn Stover Harvest, Tillage, and Cover Crop Effects on Soil Health Indicators
Abstract
Monitoring soil health indicators (SHI) will help ensure that corn (Zea mays L.) stover harvest is sustainable. This study examines SHI changes after 5 yr of growing continuous corn with either chisel plow or no-tillage practices and harvesting 0, ~35, or ~60% of the stover. Two no-tillage treatments with a cereal rye (Secale cereale L.) cover crop and stover harvest rates of ~35 or ~60% were evaluated. All eight treatments were replicated four times in a randomized complete block design at an 11-ha site in Boone County, IA. Soil samples were collected following grain and stover harvest from 0- to 5- and 5- to 15-cm depth increments. Particulate organic matter C (POM-C) decreased when stover was removed or the soil was chisel plowed. No-till with 0% stover removal had 10 mg g–1 POM-C in the 0- to 5-cm soil layer, which was 1.9-fold higher than in other treatments. Potentially mineralizable N (PMN) was greater under cover crop treatments. Average PMN values were 56.9 and 45.5 µg g–1 PMN for no-till with cereal rye at 0- to 5- and 5- to 15-cm depths, respectively, compared with 17.5 and -3.7 µg g–1 PMN for the same no-till treatments without cereal rye. Othermore »
- Authors:
-
- USDA-ARS National Lab. for Agriculture and the Environment, Ames, IA (United States)
- Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA (United States). Dept. of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- USDA-ARS National Lab. for Agriculture and the Environment, Ames, IA (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE; United States Dept. of Agriculture (USDA); USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Transportation Office. Bioenergy Technologies Office
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1483360
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1836090
- Report Number(s):
- DOE-ANTARES-07088-19
Journal ID: ISSN 0361-5995
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0014664; EE0007088
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Soil Science Society of America Journal
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 82; Journal Issue: 4; Journal ID: ISSN 0361-5995
- Publisher:
- Alliance of Crop, Soil, and Environmental Science Societies
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
Citation Formats
Obrycki, John F., Karlen, Douglas L., Cambardella, Cynthia A., Kovar, John L., and Birrell, Stuart J. Corn Stover Harvest, Tillage, and Cover Crop Effects on Soil Health Indicators. United States: N. p., 2018.
Web. doi:10.2136/sssaj2017.12.0415.
Obrycki, John F., Karlen, Douglas L., Cambardella, Cynthia A., Kovar, John L., & Birrell, Stuart J. Corn Stover Harvest, Tillage, and Cover Crop Effects on Soil Health Indicators. United States. https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj2017.12.0415
Obrycki, John F., Karlen, Douglas L., Cambardella, Cynthia A., Kovar, John L., and Birrell, Stuart J. Thu .
"Corn Stover Harvest, Tillage, and Cover Crop Effects on Soil Health Indicators". United States. https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj2017.12.0415. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1483360.
@article{osti_1483360,
title = {Corn Stover Harvest, Tillage, and Cover Crop Effects on Soil Health Indicators},
author = {Obrycki, John F. and Karlen, Douglas L. and Cambardella, Cynthia A. and Kovar, John L. and Birrell, Stuart J.},
abstractNote = {Monitoring soil health indicators (SHI) will help ensure that corn (Zea mays L.) stover harvest is sustainable. This study examines SHI changes after 5 yr of growing continuous corn with either chisel plow or no-tillage practices and harvesting 0, ~35, or ~60% of the stover. Two no-tillage treatments with a cereal rye (Secale cereale L.) cover crop and stover harvest rates of ~35 or ~60% were evaluated. All eight treatments were replicated four times in a randomized complete block design at an 11-ha site in Boone County, IA. Soil samples were collected following grain and stover harvest from 0- to 5- and 5- to 15-cm depth increments. Particulate organic matter C (POM-C) decreased when stover was removed or the soil was chisel plowed. No-till with 0% stover removal had 10 mg g–1 POM-C in the 0- to 5-cm soil layer, which was 1.9-fold higher than in other treatments. Potentially mineralizable N (PMN) was greater under cover crop treatments. Average PMN values were 56.9 and 45.5 µg g–1 PMN for no-till with cereal rye at 0- to 5- and 5- to 15-cm depths, respectively, compared with 17.5 and -3.7 µg g–1 PMN for the same no-till treatments without cereal rye. Other soil properties did not respond to increasing levels of stover removal. At this location and at the studied removal rates, 5 yr of harvesting corn stover did not decrease soil health, but POM-C data suggest that changes may be occurring. Long-term monitoring should continue to assess corn stover harvest sustainability.},
doi = {10.2136/sssaj2017.12.0415},
journal = {Soil Science Society of America Journal},
number = 4,
volume = 82,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Aug 02 00:00:00 EDT 2018},
month = {Thu Aug 02 00:00:00 EDT 2018}
}
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record
Other availability
Search WorldCat to find libraries that may hold this journal
Cited by: 13 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science
Web of Science
Figures / Tables:
Fig. 1: Plot layout and numbers for all studied tillage, cover crop, and stover removal treatments within the larger field design. Plots 420 and 422 were 780 m2; all other plots were 1040.5 m2.
All figures and tables
(4 total)
Save to My Library
You must Sign In or Create an Account in order to save documents to your library.
Works referenced in this record:
Seasonal Variation of Potentially Mineralizable Nitrogen in Four Cropping Systems
journal, November 1987
- Bonde, Torben A.; Rosswall, Thomas
- Soil Science Society of America Journal, Vol. 51, Issue 6
Particulate Soil Organic-Matter Changes across a Grassland Cultivation Sequence
journal, January 1992
- Cambardella, C. A.; Elliott, E. T.
- Soil Science Society of America Journal, Vol. 56, Issue 3
The Impact of Corn Residue Removal on Soil Aggregates and Particulate Organic Matter
journal, February 2014
- Osborne, Shannon L.; Johnson, Jane M. F.; Jin, Virginia L.
- BioEnergy Research, Vol. 7, Issue 2
Long-Term Effects of Harvesting Maize Stover and Tillage on Soil Quality
journal, January 2008
- Moebius-Clune, Bianca N.; van Es, Harold M.; Idowu, Omololu J.
- Soil Science Society of America Journal, Vol. 72, Issue 4
Long-term corn grain and stover yields as a function of tillage and residue removal in east central Minnesota
journal, August 2000
- Linden, D. R.; Clapp, C. E.; Dowdy, R. H.
- Soil and Tillage Research, Vol. 56, Issue 3-4
A direct extraction method to estimate soil microbial C: calibration in situ using microbial respiration and 14C labelled cells
journal, January 1988
- Sparling, G. P.; West, A. W.
- Soil Biology and Biochemistry, Vol. 20, Issue 3
Tillage and Crop Rotation Effects on Corn Agronomic Response and Economic Return at Seven Iowa Locations
journal, July 2015
- Al-Kaisi, Mahdi M.; Archontoulis, Sotirios V.; Kwaw-Mensah, David
- Agronomy Journal, Vol. 107, Issue 4
Corn stover harvest changes soil hydrology and soil aggregation
journal, August 2016
- Johnson, Jane M. F.; Strock, Jeffrey S.; Tallaksen, Joel E.
- Soil and Tillage Research, Vol. 161
Can Cover Crop and Manure Maintain Soil Properties After Stover Removal from Irrigated No-Till Corn?
journal, June 2014
- Blanco-Canqui, Humberto; Ferguson, Richard B.; Jin, Virginia L.
- Soil Science Society of America Journal, Vol. 78, Issue 4
An extraction method for measuring soil microbial biomass C
journal, January 1987
- Vance, E. D.; Brookes, P. C.; Jenkinson, D. S.
- Soil Biology and Biochemistry, Vol. 19, Issue 6
Can Cover Crop Use Allow Increased Levels of Corn Residue Removal for Biofuel in Irrigated and Rainfed Systems?
journal, August 2017
- Ruis, S. J.; Blanco-Canqui, H.; Jasa, P. J.
- BioEnergy Research, Vol. 10, Issue 4
Nitrogen and harvest effects on soil properties under rainfed switchgrass and no-till corn over 9 years: implications for soil quality
journal, January 2014
- Stewart, Catherine E.; Follett, Ronald F.; Pruessner, Elizabeth G.
- GCB Bioenergy, Vol. 7, Issue 2
Estimating Corn Growth, Yield, and Grain Moisture from Air Growing Degree Days and Residue Cover 1
journal, January 1987
- Swan, J. B.; Schneider, E. C.; Moncrief, J. F.
- Agronomy Journal, Vol. 79, Issue 1
Multilocation Corn Stover Harvest Effects on Crop Yields and Nutrient Removal
journal, February 2014
- Karlen, Douglas L.; Birrell, Stuart J.; Johnson, Jane M. F.
- BioEnergy Research, Vol. 7, Issue 2
Least-Squares Means: The R Package lsmeans
journal, January 2016
- Lenth, Russell V.
- Journal of Statistical Software, Vol. 69, Issue 1
Corn Stover to Sustain Soil Organic Carbon Further Constrains Biomass Supply
journal, January 2007
- Wilhelm, W. W.; Johnson, Jane M. F.; Karlen, Douglas L.
- Agronomy Journal, Vol. 99, Issue 6
A Direct Method of Aggregate Analysis of Soils and a Study of the Physical Nature of Erosion Losses 1
journal, May 1936
- Yoder, Robert E.
- Agronomy Journal, Vol. 28, Issue 5
Corn residue, tillage, and nitrogen rate effects on soil carbon and nutrient stocks in Illinois
journal, September 2015
- Villamil, María B.; Nafziger, Emerson D.
- Geoderma, Vol. 253-254
The Soil Management Assessment Framework: A Quantitative Soil Quality Evaluation Method
journal, November 2004
- Andrews, Susan S.; Karlen, Douglas L.; Cambardella, Cynthia A.
- Soil Science Society of America Journal, Vol. 68, Issue 6
Soil Response to Corn Residue Removal and Cover Crops in Eastern South Dakota
journal, January 2015
- Wegner, Brianna R.; Kumar, Sandeep; Osborne, Shannon L.
- Soil Science Society of America Journal, Vol. 79, Issue 4
Corn Residue Removal Impact on Soil Aggregates in a No-Till Corn/Soybean Rotation
journal, January 2012
- Hammerbeck, Amber L.; Stetson, Sarah J.; Osborne, Shannon L.
- Soil Science Society of America Journal, Vol. 76, Issue 4
Crop residue effects on soil quality following 10-years of no-till corn
journal, August 1994
- Karlen, D. L.; Wollenhaupt, N. C.; Erbach, D. C.
- Soil and Tillage Research, Vol. 31, Issue 2-3
Modeled Impacts of Cover Crops and Vegetative Barriers on Corn Stover Availability and Soil Quality
journal, February 2014
- Bonner, Ian J.; Muth, David J.; Koch, Joshua B.
- BioEnergy Research, Vol. 7, Issue 2
Thirty-year tillage effects on crop yield and soil fertility indicators
journal, June 2013
- Karlen, Douglas L.; Kovar, John L.; Cambardella, Cynthia A.
- Soil and Tillage Research, Vol. 130
Corn Residue Removal Impact on Topsoil Organic Carbon in a Corn–Soybean Rotation
journal, January 2012
- Stetson, Sarah J.; Osborne, Shannon L.; Schumacher(Retired), Thomas E.
- Soil Science Society of America Journal, Vol. 76, Issue 4
Agronomic Responses of Continuous Corn to Stover, Tillage, and Nitrogen Management
journal, January 2013
- Sindelar, A. J.; Coulter, J. A.; Lamb, J. A.
- Agronomy Journal, Vol. 105, Issue 6
Rye Cover Crop Effects on Soil Quality in No-Till Corn Silage-Soybean Cropping Systems
journal, May 2014
- Moore, E. B.; Wiedenhoeft, M. H.; Kaspar, T. C.
- Soil Science Society of America Journal, Vol. 78, Issue 3
Synergies between cover crops and corn stover removal
journal, September 2014
- Pratt, Michelle R.; Tyner, Wallace E.; Muth, David J.
- Agricultural Systems, Vol. 130
Crop Residue Mass Needed to Maintain Soil Organic Carbon Levels: Can It Be Determined?
journal, January 2014
- Johnson, Jane M. F.; Novak, Jeff M.; Varvel, Gary E.
- BioEnergy Research, Vol. 7, Issue 2
Midwest Cropping System Effects on Soil Properties and on a Soil Quality Index
journal, January 2011
- Jokela, William; Posner, Joshua; Hedtcke, Janet
- Agronomy Journal, Vol. 103, Issue 5
Soil quality response to long-term tillage and crop rotation practices
journal, October 2013
- Karlen, Douglas L.; Cambardella, Cynthia A.; Kovar, John L.
- Soil and Tillage Research, Vol. 133
Stover Removal Affects No-Till Irrigated Corn Yields, Soil Carbon, and Nitrogen
journal, January 2015
- Halvorson, Ardell D.; Stewart, Catherine E.
- Agronomy Journal, Vol. 107, Issue 4
Twelve Years of Stover Removal Increases Soil Erosion Potential without Impacting Yield
journal, January 2015
- Jin, Virginia L.; Schmer, Marty R.; Wienhold, Brian J.
- Soil Science Society of America Journal, Vol. 79, Issue 4
Producer willingness and ability to supply biomass: Evidence from the U.S. Midwest
journal, January 2012
- Altman, Ira; Sanders, Dwight
- Biomass and Bioenergy, Vol. 36
Crop, Tillage, and Landscape Effects on Near-Surface Soil Quality Indices in Indiana
journal, November 2016
- Hammac, W. Ashley; Stott, Diane E.; Karlen, Douglas L.
- Soil Science Society of America Journal, Vol. 80, Issue 6
Tillage and Crop Rotation Effects on Corn Agronomic Response and Economic Return at Seven Iowa Locations
journal, September 2015
- Al-Kaisi, Mahdi M.; Archontoulis, Sotirios V.; Kwaw-Mensah, David
- Agronomy Journal, Vol. 107, Issue 5
Corn Residue Management and Soil Organic Matter1
journal, January 1979
- Barber, Stanley A.
- Agronomy Journal, Vol. 71, Issue 4
Effects of lime application on nitrogen and phosphorus availability in humic soils
journal, May 2020
- Mkhonza, N. P.; Buthelezi-Dube, N. N.; Muchaonyerwa, P.
- Scientific Reports, Vol. 10, Issue 1
Corn stover as a biofuel feedstock in Iowa’s bio-economy: An Iowa farmer survey
journal, April 2011
- Tyndall, John C.; Berg, Emily J.; Colletti, Joe P.
- Biomass and Bioenergy, Vol. 35, Issue 4
Surface soil quality in five midwestern cropland Conservation Effects Assessment Project watersheds
journal, September 2014
- Karlen, D. L.; Stott, D. E.; Cambardella, C. A.
- Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, Vol. 69, Issue 5
Corn Residue Use by Livestock in the United States
journal, January 2017
- Schmer, Marty R.; Brown, Rachael M.; Jin, Virginia L.
- ael, Vol. 2, Issue 1
Tillage and Crop Rotation Effects on Corn Agronomic Response and Economic Return at Seven Iowa Locations
journal, January 2015
- Al-Kaisi, Mahdi M.; Archontoulis, Sotirios V.; Kwaw-Mensah, David
- Agronomy Journal, Vol. 0, Issue 0
Works referencing / citing this record:
Improved soil biological health increases corn grain yield in N fertilized systems across the Corn Belt
journal, March 2020
- Wade, Jordon; Culman, Steve W.; Logan, Jessica A. R.
- Scientific Reports, Vol. 10, Issue 1
Figures / Tables found in this record:
Figures/Tables have been extracted from DOE-funded journal article accepted manuscripts.