Soil responses under integrated crop and livestock production
2005
Franzluebbers, Alan J. | Stuedemann, John A.
Integration of crops and livestock could be either detrimental or beneficial to soil properties, depending upon timing and intensity of animal traffic and initial condition of the soil surface. We evaluated the surface-soil properties of a Typic Kanhapludult in Georgia during the first three years of an experiment evaluating the effect of tillage [conventional (CT), conservation (NT)], cropping system (summer grain-winter cover, winter grain-summer cover), and cover crop utilization (none, grazed) variables. With initially high soil organic C (SOC) due to previous pasture management, depth distribution of SOC became widely divergent between CT and NT following cropping management. Soil bulk density during the first year was reduced with CT, but soil became reconsolidated below 12 cm, similar to that under NT. Soil penetration resistance was greater under NT than under CT, but larger differences occurred with low soil water content than with high soil water content. Ponded infiltration was lower under NT than under CT with low antecedent soil water content, but higher under NT than under CT with high antecedent soil water content. The interaction of tillage management with antecedent soil water content on penetration resistance and water infiltration indicates that long-term tillage effects on soil physical quality will be partly influenced by timing and intensity of tractor and cattle traffic loads. Although CT management could alleviate negative influences on compaction with periodic tillage, NT management may also have an advantage in pasture-crop rotation systems by preserving the organic matter-enriched surface soil to buffer against compactive forces. A longer term investigation is warranted to verify or strengthen these interpretations.
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