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Long‐Term Corn Residue Grazing Improves Subsequent Soybean Yields in a Corn–Soybean Rotation
Author(s) -
Drewnoski Mary E.,
MacDonald Jim C.,
Erickson Galen E.,
Hanford Kathy J.,
Klopfenstein Terry J.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
crop, forage and turfgrass management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.29
H-Index - 10
ISSN - 2374-3832
DOI - 10.2134/cftm2015.0192
Subject(s) - acre , tillage , agronomy , sowing , grazing , residue (chemistry) , no till farming , conventional tillage , stocking , zoology , mathematics , biology , soil water , soil fertility , ecology , biochemistry
A 90‐acre irrigated field was utilized in which half of the field was planted to corn ( Zea mays L.) and the other half was planted to soybeans [ Glycine max (L.) Merr.], and crops were alternated yearly. Each half was divided into two replicates of three treatments in which corn residue was: fall/winter grazed (FG) November to February (∼90 days), spring grazed (SG) February to mid‐April (∼70 days), and not grazed (NG). Calves (500–700 lb body weight) were stocked at 1.2 head/acre in FG throughout the trial and in SG for 5 years, then stocking rate was increased to 3 head/acre in SG. For FG, no‐till planting was utilized. Within SG and NG, three tillage treatments, no‐till, ridge‐till, or spring‐disk‐till, were imposed after corn, with no‐till following soybeans. These tillage treatments were maintained for 9 years, after which only the no‐till was continued for 7 more years. For both corn and soybean yields, no interaction ( P ≥ 0.55) between tillage and grazing occurred over the 9 years. Across all tillage treatments, SG increased ( P < 0.01) soybean yields over NG (58.5 and 57.0 bu/acre, respectively) and had no effect ( P = 0.58) on corn yields. On land managed under no‐till throughout the trial, FG (65.5 bu/acre) improved ( P < 0.01; SEM = 0.54) and SG (63.5 bu/acre) tended ( P = 0.07) to improve soybean yields over NG (62.1 bu/acre), and FG tended ( P = 0.07; 211 bu/acre) to improve corn yield over NG (207 bu/acre) while SG (209 bu/acre) did not differ ( P = 0.27) from NG. These data suggest that grazing of corn residue at stocking rates that would result in consumption of 10 to 22% of the residue appears to have slightly positive or no impacts on subsequent soybean or corn yields.