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Spring Wheat Response to Tillage System and Nitrogen Fertilization within a Crop–Fallow System
Author(s) -
Halvorson Ardell D.,
Black Alfred L.,
Krupinsky Joseph M.,
Merrill Steven D.,
Wienhold Brian J.,
Tanaka Donald L.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
agronomy journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.752
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1435-0645
pISSN - 0002-1962
DOI - 10.2134/agronj2000.922288x
Subject(s) - tillage , agronomy , cultivar , grain yield , conventional tillage , crop rotation , human fertilization , fertilizer , crop , biology , mathematics
Spring wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) production in the northern Great Plains generally utilizes conventional tillage systems. A 12‐yr study evaluated the effects of tillage system [conventional‐till (CT), minimum‐till (MT), and no‐till (NT)], N fertilizer rate (0, 22, and 45 kg N ha −1 ), and cultivar (Butte86 and Stoa) on spring wheat grain yields in a dryland spring wheat–fallow rotation (SW–F). Butte86 yields with CT exceeded NT yields in five out of 12 years with 0 and 22 kg N ha −1 applied, and four years with 45 kg N ha −1 applied. Stoa yields with CT exceeded NT yields in three out of 12 years with no N applied, four years with 22 kg N ha −1 applied, and only one year with 45 kg N ha −1 applied. Yields with NT exceeded those with CT in one year. Most years, yields with MT equaled those with CT. Responses to N tended to be greatest in years when spring soil NO 3 –N was lowest. Positive yield responses to N fertilization with CT occurred in three years with Butte86 and two years with Stoa; with MT, four years with Butte86 and two years with Stoa; and with NT, five years with Butte86 and three years with Stoa. Cultivars were not consistent in their response to tillage and N fertilization. These results indicate that farmers in the northern Great Plains can successfully produce spring wheat in a SW–F system using MT and NT systems, but yields may be slightly reduced when compared with CT systems some years.