Location:
Project Number: 3010-12210-004-009-N
Project Type: Non-Funded Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Apr 1, 2017
End Date: Mar 31, 2022
Objective:
1. Long-term influence of different commercial fertilizer rates on soil quality parameters and soil C dynamics.
2. Long-term tillage, cover crop, and crop rotation impact on soil quality parameters.
Approach:
A field plot experiment was initiated in 1995 to investigate the effects of cover crops as a strategy to improve tillage performance in improving soil quality and soil carbon content in cropping systems. The study consists of two tillage treatments, reduced tillage (RT) and no-tillage (NT); two cover crop treatments, no-cover and sunn hemp; and three nitrogen rates (0, 60, and 90 kg N ha-1) in a wheat-sorghum-fallow cropping system. The experiment was arranged in a randomized complete block design with four replications. Soil samples were collected to evaluate changes in quality parameters. The USDA-ARS scientist will quantify some aspect of soil quality parameters (such as aggregate and POM if applicable) and soil carbon content.
