Long‐Term Tillage and Rotation Effects on Properties of a Central Ohio Soil

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Abstract
Sustainable use of soil resources can be assessed from management‐induced changes in soil properties from long‐term experiments. Such data are scanty, especially with regard to changes in soil physical properties. Therefore, soil physical and chemical analyses were performed 28 yr after initiating a crop rotation‐tillage experiment on a well‐drained Wooster silt loam soil (fine‐loamy, mixed, mesic Typic Fragiudalf) at Wooster, OH. All combinations of three rotations (continuous corn [CC; Zea mays L.]; corn and soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] in a 2‐yr rotation [CS]; and corn, oat [Avena sativa L.], and meadow in a 3‐yr rotation [COM]) and of three tillage treatments (no‐tillage [NT]; chisel plow [CP]; and moldboard plow [MP]) were maintained on the same plots for the entire length of study. All crops were grown every year. Soil properties studied for the 0‐ to 15‐cm layer were: structural stability of aggregates, bulk density, total porosity, penetration resistance, organic C, pH, cation‐exchange capacity (CEC), and exchangeable K, Ca and Mg. Mean bulk densities measured prior to tillage treatments and planting were 1.18, 1.24, and 1.28 Mg m−3 for CC, CS, and COM rotations, respectively. The lowest bulk density was observed for the CC‐NT combination. Total aggregation in CS was 26.9% greater than CC and 111.2% greater than COM. With tillage treatments, aggregation was in the order of NT>CP>MP. Rotation treatments had no effect on aggregate size. In accord with bulk density, the relative magnitude of organic C content was 100, 85, and 63 for CC, CS, and COM rotations, respectively.

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