Landscape and Soil Property Effects on Corn Grain Yield Response to Tillage
1989
Simmons, F. W. | Cassel, D. K. | Daniels, R. B.
Deep tillage practices such as chiseling and in-row subsoiling generally increase crop yields on well-drained sandy soils of the Atlantic Coastal Plain. Although attempts have been made to relate deep tillage response to measurable soil physical and chemical properties, little information is available relating within field corn (Zea mays L.) yield responses to topographic factors. This study was initiated to analyze the interactive effects of landscape and soil properties with tillage treatment on corn yields. Disking (D), chiseling (C), and in-row subsoiling/bedding (SB) tillage treatments were applied across a Norfolk-Wagram (Typic and Arenic Paleudults) complex. Grain and stover yields and grain weights, were measured in 1984 and 1985. Deep tillage provided a 25% yield increase compared to disking both years. Of all soil-related variables examined, in-row curvature explained the most yield variability. Grain yields in concave plots were more sensitive to changes in curvature than those in convex plots. Landscape influence on yields was greatest in 1985, a year with severe early season drought. Yield components at footslope and deep linear slope positions were greater than those of the interfluve and shallow linear slope positions. At the footslope position in 1984, SB increased yields more than C, suggesting that SB promotes higher yields than C when soil moisture conditions are favorable. Shallow tillage (treatment D) was the most susceptible of the three tillage treatments to yield reductions at drought-prone landscape positions.
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