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SOIL HEALTH AND AGRICULTURE RESEARCH EXTENSION (SHARE) FARM RESEARCH: LOGAN CENTER, ND
2023 Technical Report Submitted to the North Dakota Soybean Council
Abbey Wick1, Caley Gasch2, Aaron Daigh3, Marisol Berti1, Greg Endres1, and Naeem Kalwar1
1North Dakota State University, 2University of Alaska, 3University of Nebraska
Introduction
The Soil Health and Agriculture Research Extension (SHARE) Farm project in Logan Center, ND was established in 2019 and was monitored through four cropping seasons. The goals of this field-scale, long-term project are to quantify the impacts of no-till, cover cropping, and other soil health practices on crop productivity, soil properties, and agronomic factors—research goals originally assigned to the project by commodity council members. Long-term sites have high value when assessing how a combination of soil health management approaches can be used to achieve on-farm goals.
The uniqueness of soil properties, crop rotation, and climatic challenges at the Logan Center site allow for a holistic view of the challenges faced by farmers when implementing soil health practices. For example, the variations in field topography, soil texture, and salinity produce challenges when applying whole-field practices. By researching these practices in a fully-applied setting over several years, the results of this study reflect actual on farm outcomes and changes within in the system over the years of transition to a biologically active no-till. Soil health does not change quickly and issues, such as salinity, take time to remediate. Results from this study support researcher efforts to make science-based recommendations to farmers interested in adopting soil health building practices perceived as high risk and require specification to each system.
Objectives
1. Evaluate field-scale soil moisture and temperature under no-till and conventional tillage practices
2. Evaluate field-scale cover crop establishment, crop yield, and soil dynamics under (a) no-till/cover crop and (b) conventional tillage/no cover crop treatments
3. Evaluate changes in soil properties under (a) no-till/cover crop and (b) conventional tillage/no cover crop treatments.
Methods and Materials
Beginning in 2019, the 100-ac field near Logan Center, ND (47.800405N, -97.769064W), hereafter identified as the SHARE farm at Logan Center, was converted from conventional tillage (CT) to no-till (NT) management with cover crops planted each year when conditions allowed [Table 1]. To benchmark the changes in soil properties and crop productivity, three replicate CT strips were established at the project’s inception. These strips traverse the entire length of the field, capturing a range of soil and crop conditions.
Table 1. Crop rotation, tillage method for the conventional tillage treatments, and cover crop practices on the SHARE Farm from 2019 to 2022.
Crop Year Crop Tillage Cover Crop Timing and Method Cover Crop Species
2019 Pinto Beans High Speed Disk Spring and Fall Flown on at leaf drop 70 lbs ac-1 Oats
2020 Corn High Speed Disk Spring and Fall Interseeded at V4 growth stage 60 lbs ac-1 cereal rye,
2 lbs ac-1 radish,
2 lbs ac-1 winter camelina
2021 Soybeans Fall Chisel Plow, Spring Disk No Cover Crop
2022 Barley High Speed Disk Spring and Fall No-till drilled following barley harvest 20 lbs ac-1 Cereal Rye,
4 lbs ac-1 Brown Flax
At the time of project establishment, soil samples were taken on 117 grid points established across the field, divided into multiple depths and analyzed for various soil chemical and physical properties (texture, aggregate stability, organic matter, pH, N, P, K, S, and salinity) to establish a baseline. Yearly, a subset of this grid (25 points) were sampled to track changes in fertility and salinity levels. At the conclusion of this project, following the 2023 cropping year, the original 117 points will be resampled and changes will be quantified. Soil temperature and moisture was monitored at 2 and 6-inch depths using EM50™ Data Loggers and 5MT temperature and moisture probes (METER Group, Pullman, WA, USA). Crop yield was monitored by both point-sampling techniques along with combine yield mapping at 18 paired points across the field, each pair consisted of a CT and NT treatment; data was analyzed for significance with paired t-test using SAS 9.4 (SAS Institute, Cary, NC) SAS PROC TTEST. Data in this study was considered statistically significant at P = 0.05.
Crop management including planting, pesticide application, and fertility management were carried out by the cooperating farmer as needed when conditions allowed. The crop rotation used in this project was chosen to represent common crops grown in the area (pinto bean, corn, soybean, barley). Various cover crop species were planted following the pinto-bean, corn, and barley, with mixed levels of success [Table 1].
Results and Discussion
Soil Temperature and Water Content
The NT treatment exhibited less daily temperature fluctuation compared to the CT treatment, especially at the 6-inch depth. Additionally, NT soils exhibited lower average temperatures at both depths compared to the CT treatments during the growing season (May 1st-September 1st), helping to prevent heat induced plant stress. The NT system generally had a greater volumetric water content compared to the CT system. These moisture differences were most notable at the 2-in depth, and could be attributed to the abundant surface residue in the no-tilled treatments which insulated the soil against extreme daily temperature fluctuations and limited water evaporation from the soil surface.
Crop Productivity
Although the crop planting rate for both the CT and NT treatments were the same, the stand count for the pinto beans and corn were less in the NT treatments [Table 2]. When comparing the crop yield between the CT and NT within each cropping year, however, no differences were noted for any of the crops planted.
Table 2. Crop yield, plant population, and surface residue following planting for each crop in a 4-year rotation under conventionally tilled (CT) and no-tillage (NT) management systems.
Yield Population Surface Residue
Crop CT NT P-value CT NT P-value CT NT P-value
tons ac-1 plants ac-1 %
Pinto Bean 1.5 1.4 NS 57,239 75,827 **
bu ac-1
Corn 158 145 NS 34,848 18,392 **
Soybeans 41 46 NS 108,667 84,367 NS 56 96 ***
Barley 90 86 NS 590,707 742,133 NS 11 79 **
*, **, *** Significantly different at 0.05, 0.01, and 0.001 probability levels, respectively
NS Nonsignificant
Cover Crop Productivity
The productivity of the cover crop in this study was highly dependent on crop type, seeding method, and especially weather conditions. For example, dry soil conditions in 2021 and 2022 prevented the planting of a cover crop or did not provide enough moisture for germination and growth, respectively. Generally, broadcast cover crops had a lower rate of establishment compared to those interseeded or drilled. This study confirms the difficulties faced by farmers when implementing cover crops; field variation, planting method, cover crop species, weather conditions, and timing all have an impact on the success of the practice.
Conclusions
In brief, the current results of this study can be summarized into three points:
• Soil temperature is, on average, lower and has less daily fluctuation in no-tilled as compared to conventionally tilled systems.
• No-till systems help to increase soil volumetric water content under most conditions.
• No-till systems in this region have non-significant yield differences compared to conventionally tilled systems.
When farmers choose to adopt soil health practices, they need reasonable and clear expectations regarding the impacts of the management changes. This long-term, field-scale research helps to illustrate the reaction of soil properties and crop yield to no-till, and success of cover crops to farmers with similar field conditions. On these soils, there is no need for farmer anxiety in transitioning to no-till from a conventional till system. Yields were similar in either system, and although the economic advantage of no tillage trip (no chisel plow in the fall, nor field cultivator in spring) were not considered yet in this evaluation, the equipment and fuel savings will be factored in when the final evaluation is completed.
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SOIL HEALTH AND AGRICULTURE RESEARCH EXTENSION (SHARE) FARM RESEARCH: LOGAN CENTER, ND
2023 Executive Summary Submitted to the North Dakota Soybean Council
Abbey Wick1, Caley Gasch2, Aaron Daigh3, Marisol Berti1, Greg Endres1, and Naeem Kalwar1
1North Dakota State University, 2University of Alaska, 3University of Nebraska
Research conducted
The Soil Health and Agriculture Research Extension (SHARE) Farm project in Logan Center, ND was established in 2019 and monitored through four cropping seasons (pinto bean-corn-soybean-barley). The goals of this field-scale, long-term project are to quantify the impact of no-till and cover cropping on crop productivity, soil properties, and agronomic factors. The long-term, on-farm approach of this project has high value when assessing how a combination of soil health practices can be used to achieve on-farm goals, while also setting reasonable benchmarks for what to expect when adopting these practices.
Why the research is important to ND soybean farmers
This project objective was to help farmers reduce the inherent risk of adopting new on-farm management practices by showing first-hand the challenges and expected changes farmers may face when implementing these practices on their nearby farms. Through science-based, result-driven recommendations, some uncertainty is reduced and farm productivity goals can be set with reasonable certainty.
Final findings of the research
Through the four cropping years at the SHARE Farm—spanning both “good” and “bad” years—several important points can be made regarding soil health-practice adoption in the Logan Center, ND area:
• The productivity of cover crops is highly dependent on crop type, planting method, and most importantly weather conditions.
• No-till systems in this region have non-statistically significant yield differences compared to conventionally tilled systems during the first four years of no-till adoption.
• Soil temperature on average, is lower and has less daily fluctuation in no-till compared to tilled systems during the growing season, helping to reduce heat-induced plant stress.
Recommendations to North Dakota soybean farmers and industry
An inherent reduction in crop productivity during the first years of transitioning to no-till is commonly noted among agriculturalists, and there is evidence elsewhere supporting this. However, research at the SHARE Farm showed an average soybean yield of 43.5 bu/ac with no difference between tillage system, and similar results may be expected in other fields with similar soil, climatic, and management conditions. Although there was no difference in crop yield between tilled and no-till systems at this location, the direct financial benefit of not having the expense of several tillage passes prior to planting may well offset the costs of more intensive management. The next stage in this project is to further quantify the economic impact of soil health practice adoption, to help promote positive financial outcomes for North Dakota farmers.