Cumulative effect of annually repeated passes of heavy agricultural machinery on soil structural properties and sugar beet yield under two tillage systems

Published source details Koch H.J., Heuer H., Tomanova O. & Marlander B. (2008) Cumulative effect of annually repeated passes of heavy agricultural machinery on soil structural properties and sugar beet yield under two tillage systems. Soil and Tillage Research, 101, 69-77.
Share Tweet Email

Actions

This study is summarised as evidence for the following.

	Action	Category
	Control traffic and traffic timing Action Link
	Change tillage practices Action Link

Control traffic and traffic timing

A replicated design in 2001-2006 on a silty-clay soil in Lower Saxony, Germany (Koch et al. 2008) found that subsoil structure was improved with no traffic/wheeling compared to repeated wheeling with present-day heavy agricultural machinery. The number of soil pores decreased under wheeling. Three adjacent fields were used, with sugar beet Beta vulgaris planted at a density of about 90,000 plants/ha. Cultivation of crops followed regional standards of good professional practice. Wheeling was carried out with a six-row self-propelled sugar beet tanker harvester and compared with an unwheeled control treatment. Soil penetration resistance was measured to 0.65 m in depth. After sugar beet sowing, undisturbed and disturbed soil core samples were taken in spring 2004-2006, from 0.05m to 0.6 m in depth. Water infiltration rate in the field was measured in May 2005 and 2006.
Change tillage practices

A replicated study in 2001-2006 on a silty-clay soil in Lower Saxony, Germany (Koch et al. 2008) found that adopting mouldboard ploughing reduced soil penetration resistance (0.5-1.0 MPa) compared to shallow tillage (1.5 MPa). Soil porosity under shallow tillage changed depending on the soil depth, but was uniform at all depths when under mouldboard ploughing. Shallow tillage reduced sugar beet yield (15 Mg/dm/ha) compared to mouldboard ploughing (19 Mg/dm/ha). Sugar beet Beta vulgaris was planted at a density of about 90,000 plants/ha in three adjacent fields. Cultivation of crops under shallow tillage or mouldboard ploughing followed regional standards of good professional practice. Soil penetration resistance was measured to 0.65 m depth in spring. After sugar beet sowing, undisturbed and disturbed soil core samples were taken in spring 2004-2006, from 0.05m to 0.6 m depth.