Influence of Tillage on Corn and Soybean Yield in the United States and Canada

Abstract

An extensive literature review was conducted of corn and soybean research that compared yields of no‐tillage to conventional fall tillage systems. The objective was to test the hypothesis that no‐till has a different effect on corn and soybean yields in different regions of the United States and Canada. The trial results were mapped to look for geographic and environmental patterns in the relative performance of no‐tillage to conventional tillage on corn and soybean yield. The national average difference in corn and soybean yield between no‐tillage and conventional tillage was negligible. A map of the tillage yield comparisons was created for the U.S. and Canada. No‐till tended to have greater yields than conventional tillage in the south and west regions. The two tillage systems had similar yields in the central U.S., and no‐till typically produced lower yields than conventional tillage in the northern U.S. and Canada. No‐tillage had greater corn and soybean yields than conventional tillage on moderate‐ to well‐drained soils, but slightly lower yields than conventional tillage on poorly drained soils. Corn and soybean yields tended to benefit more from crop rotation in no‐till as compared to continuous cropping. Future tillage research should focus on optimizing successful high residue no‐tillage or strip‐tillage production systems instead of making comparisons to conventional tillage systems.

Pre‐Plant Anhydrous Ammonia Placement Consequences on No‐Till Versus Conventional‐Till Maize Growth and Nitrogen Responses

“…Tillage system can also be an important factor affecting the uniformity of maize plant growth/development and the uniformity of root access to nutrients (DeFelice et al, 2006). Al-Kaisi and Kwaw-Mensah (2007) found no significant differences between tillage systems on maize yield and N uptake in Iowa during their manure and fertilizer comparison study.…”

“…On the other hand, NH 3 placement directly under maize plants (such as the intersection of NH 3 band and plant row in diagonal application) in some cases turned out to be disadvantageous for plant development (Sawyer et al, 2009;Fernández et al, 2011). These early-stage nutrient advantages and disadvantages could result in less uniform plants within the rows and, perhaps, reductions in final GY A and N uptake.Tillage system can also be an important factor affecting the uniformity of maize plant growth/development and the uniformity of root access to nutrients (DeFelice et al, 2006). Al-Kaisi and Kwaw-Mensah (2007) found no significant differences between tillage systems on maize yield and N uptake in Iowa during their manure and fertilizer comparison study.…”

Tillage and crop rotation effects on the yield of corn, soybean and wheat in eastern Canada

“…Rasmussen et al (1998) highlighted the need for long term (>20 years) experiments when assessing the sustainability of agricultural management practices. DeFelice et al (2006) proposed that the validity of tillage and rotation results improve after several years of experimentation due to the time required for NT to establish soil tilth, porosity and drainage, and a stable microbial environment.…”

Independent and Combined Effect of Some Soil Tillage Systems on Nitrogen and Carbon Concentration in Soil Structural Units of Haplic Chernozems

“…The same was valid for the C/N ratio under constant use of systems with partial or no turning of the soil layer (the 2nd, 3rd and 4th system) and under alternation of plowing and disking (the 6th system). The magnitude of the effect of long-term use of different types of tillage is driven by soil properties [19][20][21][22], the timing and frequency of tillage events [23,24], climate [6,25] and choice of crop [26][27][28].…”