ARS | Publication request: 100 years of the cullars rotation (c. 1911).

Submitted to: National Cotton Council Beltwide Cotton Conference
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: January 17, 2012
Publication Date: May 1, 2012
Citation: Mitchell, C.C., Delaney, D., Balkcom, K.S. 2012. 100 years of the cullars rotation (c. 1911). In: Boyd, S., et al., editors. Proceedings of the Beltwide Cotton Conference, January 3-6, 2012, Orlando, Florida. p. 1335-1344.

Interpretive Summary: Alabama’s “Cullars Rotation” experiment (circa 1911) was placed on the National Register of Historical Places as the oldest, continuous, soil fertility experiment in the South in 2003. Along with its nearby predecessor on the National Register, “The Old Rotation” (circa 1896), these experiments contain the oldest, cotton research plots in the world. Both are located on the campus of Auburn University in east-central Alabama. Data summarized by scientists from Auburn University and the National Soil Dynamics Laboratory in Auburn, AL indicated that treatments on the Cullars Rotation demonstrate dramatically the long-term effects of fertilization and the lack of specific nutrients on nonirrigated crop yields over a 100-year period. The Cullars Rotation is one of the few sites where controlled nutrient deficiencies can be observed on 5 different crops during the course of a year (cotton, crimson clover, corn, wheat, and soybean). The experiment preserves a site for monitoring nutrient accumulation and loss and soil quality changes and their effects on long-term sustainability of an intensive crop rotation system.

Technical Abstract: Alabama’s “Cullars Rotation” experiment (circa 1911) was placed on the National Register of Historical Places as the oldest, continuous, soil fertility experiment in the South in 2003. Along with its nearby predecessor on the National Register, “The Old Rotation” (circa 1896), these experiments contain the oldest, cotton research plots in the world. Both are located on the campus of Auburn University in east-central Alabama. Treatments on the Cullars Rotation demonstrate dramatically the long-term effects of fertilization and the lack of specific nutrients on nonirrigated crop yields over a 100-year period. The Cullars Rotation is one of the few sites where controlled nutrient deficiencies can be observed on 5 different crops during the course of a year (cotton, crimson clover, corn, wheat, and soybean). The experiment preserves a site for monitoring nutrient accumulation and loss and soil quality changes and their effects on long-term sustainability of an intensive crop rotation system.