No‐Till Corn Response to Crop Rotation and In‐Row Residue Placement

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Abstract
Enhanced corn (Zea mays L.) yield responses to rotation in no‐till systems may be due to the types and amounts of surface‐placed plant residue. Research in 1989, 1990, and 1995 evaluated no‐till corn yield response to various preceding crops and examined whether in‐row residue removal affected no‐till corn response to rotation crops. The soil was an imperfectly drained loam (medium, mixed, weakly to moderately calcareous Typic Hapludalf). The preceding crops were: corn harvested for grain or whole‐plant silage; hard red spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.); barley (Hordeum vulgare L.); red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) cover crops, following barley, that were killed by spraying either 3 wk (early‐kill) or 1 d (late‐kill) prior to corn planting; canola (Brassica napus L.); and soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.]. In‐row residue was either retained while planting or cleared using planter‐mounted, notched‐disk row cleaners. Clearing in‐row cover crop residue increased early‐season corn growth and was associated with yield increases of 0.61 Mg ha−1 (8%) following early‐killed red clover and 0.43 Mg ha−1 (6%) (P = 0.10) following late‐killed red clover. In 2 of 3 yr, corn yields following early‐killed red clover were similar to following soybean and greater than following grain corn, provided that in‐row residue was cleared. Following the other crops, grain yield response to clearing in‐row residue was smaller and less consistent over years. Preceding cropping affected early‐season corn growth, with the largest plants at 5 wk after planting following either soybean or silage corn and the smallest following either red clover or grain corn. In 2 of 3 yr, when preceding crop effects on grain yield were statistically significant, yields following either soybean or spring wheat were more than 1.05 Mg ha−1 (16%) higher than after grain corn. That yield increase occurred regardless of in‐row residue placement. Removing corn stover by harvesting as silage increased corn yield by 0.86 Mg ha−1 (12%) over yield following grain corn. During 1995, corn yield following silage corn was less than after soybean, canola, barley, or wheat; thus, no‐till corn yield response to rotation is not exclusively due to the presence of surface‐placed stover. In‐row residue placement and preceding cropping practices affected in‐row soil temperature, but this could not totally account for the treatment effects on early‐season corn growth and yields.

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