Winter weathering influences on percent soybean residue cover
2001
Burr, C.A. | Shelton, D.P.
Crop residue on the soil surface is an important component of many soil erosion control plans. The amount of cover available for erosion control is dependent both on the amount of cover present following harvest and any reduction that occurs through subsequent residue disturbance by such things as livestock grazing, tillage and planting operations, and exposure to the weather. To better document weather-related losses, line-transect measurements were made of percent soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) residue cover remaining on the soil surface after harvest in the fall and again the following spring on a total of 234 fields in Missouri during a 2-year period. Mean residue cover was 67 and 55% following harvest and in the spring, respectively, representing an average reduction of 18 percent due to over-winter weathering. Crop yield, plant row spacing, soybean maturity group, field slope, field orientation, the type of combine threshing element and residue spreader, and precipitation were all found to influence (P < 0.05) over-winter residue cover losses. However, the amount of precipitation received during the winter months was the primary factor contributing to over-winter residue cover reduction. Predicted residue cover losses ranged from 7 percent for the minimum level of winter-month precipitation [112 mm (4.4 in.)] received by any of the fields in this study to 35 percent for the maximum level of precipitation [754 mm (29.7 in.)]. Generalized estimates of over-winter soybean residue cover reduction as a function of precipitation developed in this study can be used for crop residue management planning when site-specific data are not available.
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