A better understanding of the implications of corn (Zea mays L.) residue grazing and baling on soil and environmental quality is needed to develop sustainable integrated crop-livestock production systems. We studied how corn residue grazing and baling impacted water erosion in a rainfed and an irrigated site in Nebraska after one and seven grazing seasons, respectively. Treatments were grazing (4.4 animal unit mo [AUM] ha −1 ), baling, and control (no residue removal) in triplicate at the rainfed site on a Yutan silty clay loam (6% slope) and light grazing (2.5 AUM ha −1 ), heavy grazing (5 AUM ha −1 ), baling, and control in duplicate at the irrigated site on Duroc loam and Satanta loam (5.3% slope). We measured erosion under simulated rainfall for 30 min at an intensity of 6.3 ± 1.2 cm h −1 . Erosion did not increase after one season of grazing at the rainfed site, but it significantly increased after seven seasons of grazing at the irrigated site. At this site, both heavy and light grazing increased runoff by 3.3 mm and sediment loss by 0.26 Mg ha −1 . Baling had larger effects on water erosion than grazing. Across both sites, baling reduced time to runoff start by 14 min and increased runoff by 13 mm and sediment loss by 2.7 Mg ha −1 . While grazing after seven seasons increased nutrient loss, baling caused larger nutrient losses at both sites. Overall, grazing caused runoff losses of sediment, C, and nutrients in the long term, but baling consistently increased such losses in both short and long term.Abbreviations: AUM, animal unit month; EC, electrical conductivity. C orn (Zea mays L.) residue is an essential component of integrated croplivestock systems (Sulc and Franzluebbers, 2014). Whether grazed or baled, residue provides a low-cost feed for ruminant livestock production (Rasby et al., 2014;Stalker et al., 2015). Corn residue grazing or baling is an increasingly common practice in the Midwest to meet the increasing demands for forage, particularly in the fall and winter months when forage supply is limited. Increased conversion of grasslands to corn and soybean (Glycine max L.) production and increased feed costs have augmented demands for crop residues as forage in recent years.A better understanding of residue grazing and baling implications on soil and environmental quality is needed to support and develop sustainable crop-livestock production systems. One of the questions related to soil and water quality is: Does residue baling or grazing increase risks of water erosion under intense rainstorms? Increasing climatic fluctuations with severe drought and intense rainstorm events may increase the soil's susceptibility to water erosion if soil surface protective cover is reduced through crop residue baling or grazing (Nearing et al., 2004). Studies indicate that in the Midwest, the number of intense storms with 75 mm d −1 have increased by 103% in the last 50 yr (Saunders et al., 2012
Core Ideas• Water erosion did not increase after one season of grazing, but it significantly increased after seven se...