2 - 2021 South Central Ag Lab Field Day - Impacts of Residue Removal on Soil Properties

Mike Kamm Author

08/30/2021 Added

7 Plays

Description

2021 South Central Ag Lab Field Day - Impacts of Residue Removal on Soil Properties, Michael Sindelar, Nebraska Extension Educator

Searchable Transcript

Search:

[00:00:07.880]Hi, I'm Michael Sindelar from Nebraska Extension. Today
[00:00:10.430]I'm going to be talking about you on to,
[00:00:12.950]or actually giving you a summary from two different talks that were presented at
[00:00:16.220]the South Central Agricultural Laboratory Field Day.
[00:00:20.240]and so the first talk that gets rolled into the summary is the impacts of
[00:00:24.500]residue removal on soil properties.
[00:00:26.870]This was done by the University of Nebraska and,
[00:00:30.620]in partner working along with the USDA ARS and the USDA
[00:00:35.060]ARS had a talk on biomass management and your graded corn looking
[00:00:39.950]at yield.
[00:00:40.880]And so both of these talks actually come from the very same experiment.
[00:00:44.780]So what is this experiment looking at? Well, it's citizens,
[00:00:47.480]a south central agricultural laboratory and south central Nebraska.
[00:00:52.250]And right here is a good image of actually what the plot layout looks like.
[00:00:56.840]And so there's really four being questions to the study.
[00:00:59.720]What's the effect of irrigation. When you remove residue,
[00:01:03.440]what is the effect of nitrogen? Can nitrogen,
[00:01:07.670]drive off, different effects of residue removal?
[00:01:11.570]What's the effect of silver and removal itself. And then how do you,
[00:01:14.930]morally were remediate this?
[00:01:17.600]and so there were two treatments that we were looking at for a moral eating that
[00:01:21.920]was using a winter cover crop and manure.
[00:01:24.230]And then we also had a control where we left everything in place.
[00:01:28.580]So using Stover management, why are we interested in looking at this?
[00:01:33.020]Why do we need to think about how to memorialize it? Well,
[00:01:38.000]residue plays an important thing.
[00:01:39.860]It actually has functions that help out in the field.
[00:01:41.930]It's not just something there that's leftover,
[00:01:44.510]at the end of the day or after you harvest, it's not trust,
[00:01:47.460]it's actually a resource.
[00:01:48.980]And so there's interest in removing it for feed for cattle.
[00:01:52.820]And there was interest back when this experiment with established in 2010 is
[00:01:57.200]maybe using it as a fuel source. But aside from that,
[00:02:00.770]it also holds soil in place or helps hold soil in place, help trap rain,
[00:02:05.180]help improve drainage. So when you remove it,
[00:02:08.060]you have a risk of losing soil due to erosion,
[00:02:10.910]especially that very far image, a wind erosion could be a very big concern,
[00:02:15.650]but we don't know how, how big of a concern is that,
[00:02:19.220]how long do these effects, you know,
[00:02:22.340]do you need to worry about one erosion the year after you remove it,
[00:02:25.970]or is six years of continuous removal that you have to start.
[00:02:28.730]Worrying about that?
[00:02:31.190]So the first thing we're going to look at, is the corn yield response.
[00:02:36.170]And so with this, our first thing is the,
[00:02:41.110]the response, under irrigation. So, when we had it,
[00:02:46.250]most years there wasn't really a difference between it,
[00:02:51.020]when the Stover restrained,
[00:02:52.430]but when you removed a residue or corn Stover,
[00:02:57.050]we did see a yield bump and that yield increase was seen in both
[00:03:02.050]the limited irrigation and the full year irrigation.
[00:03:04.900]Now this yield increase is thought of as a early season benefit when you
[00:03:09.610]remove that residue, allows the soil to warm up faster.
[00:03:13.750]And so the biology of the soil is warming,
[00:03:16.300]moving faster and it's easier for corn to drain.
[00:03:23.130]So those are a few things. Yes,
[00:03:24.720]there's a benefit of removing it when you're looking at a yield increase.
[00:03:28.890]and when you left it in place,
[00:03:30.060]we didn't see anything or it was actually a little bit lower.
[00:03:34.440]another thing to think about is, was there an end rate effect on this? Well,
[00:03:39.210]yes. at the higher end rate, we did have more of a yield,
[00:03:43.530]gain than at our lower rate. And there was really no difference.
[00:03:48.000]if you routine Stover were removed Stover,
[00:03:51.480]the effect was the end rate itself, not Stover.
[00:03:56.960]Now the interesting thing about some of the status,
[00:03:59.580]it's not just what was done at scale.
[00:04:02.070]some of this data is what was done at other sites that replicated what was done
[00:04:05.400]at south central ag lab. And so when we look at that,
[00:04:09.720]when we start looking at our moral obligation treatments, once again,
[00:04:14.640]there's that difference when you remain or keep a
[00:04:19.470]residue in place,
[00:04:20.980]you're not going to have as much of yield as when you actually remove it.
[00:04:25.860]and that was across all eight years of the data.
[00:04:29.460]The interesting thing is looking at our more elation treatments.
[00:04:33.120]Is there anything in our Memorial Asian treatments that caused a yield increase?
[00:04:36.570]And yet actually there was a,
[00:04:38.460]when we removed Stover and added manure and we had our highest gains and yield,
[00:04:43.560]and it was actually significantly different than all the other molar oration
[00:04:47.970]treatments. So that's a plus from Panera, right. Yield increase with manure.
[00:04:51.720]All right. So once again,
[00:04:55.800]if you were a teen Stover,
[00:04:57.030]you did not get that yield bump as when you removed it.
[00:05:00.450]there was a slight increase,
[00:05:01.860]but it wasn't statistically different when you did add manure when you removed
[00:05:05.730]it. But Hey, our, our winner,
[00:05:07.380]our horse that's pulling away with yield was where we removed Stover and we
[00:05:12.000]added manure.
[00:05:17.880]So the other thing to think about is what else do we have going on?
[00:05:22.920]well, if, if we break stuff out and kind of look at certain years,
[00:05:27.390]because when you look over multiple years, there can be some messiness.
[00:05:31.680]sometimes the story's lost. So we just focused in, on our very last year,
[00:05:36.240]2018, where we were taking yield data,
[00:05:39.330]just to kind of see what was going on in here. once again, there,
[00:05:43.500]there is that difference between when you were routined residue or when you
[00:05:47.340]removed it or Stover,
[00:05:48.930]whatever word you want to use for what's leftover behind after you take the
[00:05:52.290]grain.
[00:05:53.520]the interesting thing here is now there's a little bit of a difference,
[00:05:56.820]a little of play in the way this year was the rye actually tended to
[00:06:01.580]have a slightly lower yield.
[00:06:03.440]It wasn't statistically different compared to when you added maturer or when you
[00:06:07.250]left everything alone. and that's just interesting in itself, just,
[00:06:11.750]you know, realize that,
[00:06:14.570]you can have some maybe eliminating effects when you're using a cover crop and
[00:06:18.560]you're terminating it right before, you're planting corn. in this case,
[00:06:23.300]any of those would be more moisture related. the cover crop was,
[00:06:27.920]terminated usually three weeks before, planning.
[00:06:31.040]So there was plenty of time for that residue to break up.
[00:06:33.680]And so that you wouldn't have a poor germination due to the, the,
[00:06:38.210]cover crop residue, being high, being behind, tying up,
[00:06:42.320]nitrogen or, making the soil a little bit too much.
[00:06:46.820]What cause you have that residue holding the moisture in the soil. So with that,
[00:06:51.350]we're going to switch gears from just looking at, Hey,
[00:06:53.270]what's the overview of yield and work into the soil properties.
[00:06:56.510]This is a little bit more of what I'm familiar with.
[00:06:58.820]I actually worked on this before I came to extension.
[00:07:01.730]there's a lot of my grad work in this. And so what we've got to think about,
[00:07:05.510]Hey, we, we already have a story.
[00:07:07.250]So the story so far is that after three years we had no effect of residue
[00:07:11.810]removal, cover crops were manure on water infiltration, water retention,
[00:07:16.070]which we're,
[00:07:16.850]that's what we're looking at for our water storage plant available water. Hey,
[00:07:20.750]remember, that's our, storage tank for our plants.
[00:07:24.500]It's the water in the soil that plants can take up, during the soil season.
[00:07:28.400]So if our plant available water reduces our, that, that tanks getting smaller,
[00:07:33.050]there might be management concerns with that. Well, aggregate stability.
[00:07:36.710]After three years,
[00:07:37.430]there was a reduction in the top inch and then with organic carbon, once again,
[00:07:41.540]that top insurers, a reduction in organic carbon. So, Hey,
[00:07:44.900]even after just three continuous years of removing residue,
[00:07:48.440]we're already seeing differences. We're already seeing effects.
[00:07:51.470]I worked under the six year department and when I get done talking about what
[00:07:55.550]happened at six years,
[00:07:56.390]we're going to move in and look at some data from 10 years. At 10 years,
[00:07:59.960]we saw a reduction in water, infiltration, water retention, and,
[00:08:03.590]plant available water. So that means we're not having as much water,
[00:08:08.150]enter into the soil to recharge our soil. We're to,
[00:08:12.320]fill up our water tank.
[00:08:13.820]Our water tank itself is actually being reduced and what's available for the
[00:08:17.510]plants or what the plants can use throughout the year.
[00:08:19.970]That amount is less than if we left residue in place.
[00:08:23.630]So that kind of counters, what the yield increase may be.
[00:08:28.340]and then when we look at our Y aggregate stability, this is looking at,
[00:08:32.930]water, water erosion is, you know,
[00:08:36.200]if you're wa AgriStability reduces,
[00:08:38.780]then you're at concern for water erosion. Well,
[00:08:41.840]after six years it was reduced and the top six inch is of the soil.
[00:08:46.730]And our organic carbon was decreased in our top six inches.
[00:08:49.460]And the organic carbon is kind of our look,
[00:08:51.640]it's a great idea to kind of snapshot without doing too much work.
[00:08:56.070]What's your soul health looking like soils that tend to have higher carbon
[00:08:59.460]values, organic carbon or organic matter tend to be healthier soils.
[00:09:03.960]And in this case, we had a reduction in carbon.
[00:09:06.210]So that could also be a concern when we're looking at sustainability of removing
[00:09:10.710]residue. in this experiment,
[00:09:12.930]we were definitely being very aggressive about our residue removal.
[00:09:16.470]We are chopping the stocks off almost right at the soil surface,
[00:09:20.640]and that made it so that there was no, vertical cover whatsoever,
[00:09:24.600]no vertical residue.
[00:09:26.040]And that means we only had horizontal residue leftover after belling.
[00:09:29.850]Unfortunately, that means that we're at the mercy of the wind. We,
[00:09:32.880]you need vertical residue to catch stuff,
[00:09:35.580]to stop the wind from blowing it around.
[00:09:37.890]that's one of our lessons that we learned from this experiment.
[00:09:41.400]So now we're gonna move into some of our ten-year data. What held true?
[00:09:44.610]What changed? Well at our 10 year mark,
[00:09:48.480]we still have that removal effect.
[00:09:51.810]So when we removed residue, we had a lower,
[00:09:56.070]organic carbon value than when we left it in place.
[00:09:58.980]Now this effect didn't actually go as deep as we saw it in our
[00:10:03.720]six-year data. Hey, that's what happens with research. That's what we do it.
[00:10:07.300]We're wanting to know what's going on. This is a living system.
[00:10:10.980]So it's hard to understand or to predict what's going to go on.
[00:10:14.640]And so we didn't see a statistical effect in our soil,
[00:10:19.410]organic carbon matter or concentrations, but we definitely see,
[00:10:24.190]that when you remove or leave residue in place,
[00:10:26.730]it has a higher amount of organic carbon than when we,
[00:10:30.390]remove it for baling. but interesting.
[00:10:34.500]when we look at our remediation treatments now,
[00:10:38.520]that's where we're looking at our certificate, our significant differences are,
[00:10:42.330]are small letters. They're looking at the differences between,
[00:10:46.590]removal and no removal. Now the big letters that's saying,
[00:10:52.140]it's comparing when we did nothing when we added manure and when we grew a cover
[00:10:56.340]crop. And when you look at that,
[00:10:58.470]our highest organic carbon values came from when we used manure
[00:11:03.270]as a remediation treatment. And when we actually used it,
[00:11:07.950]I guess in the case, when we look at our control,
[00:11:09.750]we're not using it as a remediation treatment anymore. It's more as, Hey,
[00:11:14.010]this is an extra thing to help the soil out.
[00:11:16.350]And that's where we have our highest organic carbon value. So, Hey,
[00:11:20.020]that's another plus for, for manure.
[00:11:23.280]it helps increase our soil carbon. When we look at cover crops,
[00:11:27.480]once again, there was an effect,
[00:11:29.910]but it wasn't significantly different unless you removed residue.
[00:11:34.770]So what's, that's telling us is that, Hey,
[00:11:36.900]cover crops can remediate the negative effects of residue removal,
[00:11:41.520]when you use them. So that's a plus, that was our whole idea of testing.
[00:11:46.020]If cover crops would work for that. And then when we look at manure, yeah,
[00:11:49.350]hay manure is adding carbon back in when we're losing it.
[00:11:52.080]When we remove it from, especially in that top two inches.
[00:11:58.120]Now, once you're seeing enough, when we look down at the two to four inch,
[00:12:01.360]we see that, okay, cover crop and the,
[00:12:06.580]control treatment. They, weren't doing anything.
[00:12:11.260]They were the same, but our manure, once again, even at,
[00:12:14.450]at the two to four inch increased,
[00:12:16.840]carbon significantly compared to the other treatments.
[00:12:21.040]So the next thing I want to talk about is bulk density.
[00:12:24.610]This is a property that kind of indicates are we going to have compaction
[00:12:29.410]issues? And now, so what was measured here after 10 years,
[00:12:32.770]we have our field bulk density, which means when we went out,
[00:12:35.470]we use a metal ring,
[00:12:36.550]we pushed it into the ground and we took our bulk density and measurements off
[00:12:39.820]of that ring. That ring just gives us a constant volume.
[00:12:42.790]So we knew what the volume was. And then we measured the weight.
[00:12:47.140]when we look at the Proctor maximum bulk density,
[00:12:50.170]that's where we actually artificially compacted that soil to see how,
[00:12:55.180]much that soil can be compacted. And then when we look at the degree,
[00:12:59.330]compaction is how compacted is that maximum bulk density.
[00:13:02.620]And our last one is what's the porosity there.
[00:13:05.320]So we actually had some interesting things that came out of it.
[00:13:07.690]So our first thing is yes, there is a removal of reflect on bulk density.
[00:13:12.880]Interesting enough. when you look at the literature, most,
[00:13:16.670]everybody will say, if you leave residue in place,
[00:13:20.410]I will have a lower bulk density. When then when you, we removed it.
[00:13:23.830]When we look at what happened to ours, it was actually the reverse.
[00:13:27.880]When we removed residue,
[00:13:29.410]we had a lower bulk density when we then when we left residue in place,
[00:13:34.060]but one of the possibilities that's causing this as well, think about it.
[00:13:38.230]If you don't have residue on top of a soil,
[00:13:41.230]that soil can heat up and cool down on faster.
[00:13:45.580]and then you don't have anything to catch. the, snow.
[00:13:50.530]So changes in temperature. Your soul is more susceptible to those,
[00:13:54.850]which means it's also more susceptible to freezing, what we know.
[00:13:59.080]And it's a known fact that freezing and thawing is one of our greatest ways to
[00:14:03.490]reduce compaction.
[00:14:05.020]And so that's one of the reasons why maybe the removed has a lower bulk density
[00:14:08.560]is that it's having freezing and thawing is having a greater impact on it
[00:14:12.280]because there's not cover there to insulate the soil. Now,
[00:14:15.370]when we go back and we look at how our moral or treatments are affecting a bulk
[00:14:20.320]density, we can see, our cover crop treatment. When we use the cover crop,
[00:14:24.880]we actually had our lowest bulk density. When we added manure,
[00:14:28.420]it was similar to when we grew cover crops,
[00:14:30.940]but it was also similar to when we didn't do anything.
[00:14:32.830]So it's not statistically different than any of them. So the, the,
[00:14:36.190]the winner of what affected bulk density,
[00:14:39.340]the best was actually the cover crop,
[00:14:42.520]and actually help reduce that bulk density.
[00:14:46.180]The next thing we're gonna look at is our Proctor bulk density. And right here,
[00:14:50.050]we actually have an where residue is removed. It has a higher monk,
[00:14:53.900]maximum bulk density than when residues left place. Once again,
[00:14:57.650]we're looking at these treatments 10 years after continuous residue removal.
[00:15:02.270]And so what this is telling me is we have a concern right here.
[00:15:06.560]We have a concern that there could be compaction issues,
[00:15:10.010]with vehicle traffic. So that means if you're a baling residue,
[00:15:13.670]you really need to pay attention to what your field conditions are.
[00:15:16.250]Cause you can actually make that field a lot more compacted than when you left
[00:15:20.390]your residue in place. So just avoid any operations when the fields, what,
[00:15:25.490]and it may not have a negative [inaudible] are going to face that compaction
[00:15:29.780]issue. Another thing to look at,
[00:15:33.530]we'll take a quick look at our degree of compaction.
[00:15:36.290]We are able to compact the no removal a lot more than our removal,
[00:15:41.300]but that's because our no removal actually had a higher porosity.
[00:15:45.980]As you can see right here. Then when we removed residue,
[00:15:49.790]now porosity is important because porosity it's the soil pores that are filling
[00:15:54.260]up with our water. So that's our water tank. The more prosody you have,
[00:15:58.070]the more potentially have to be able to store water. The,
[00:16:03.060]the last thing is, just taking a look at, Hey, what happened?
[00:16:07.520]We were looking at our top two inches. Now we need to look at our,
[00:16:10.820]two to four inches here. And so what we have going on here is once again,
[00:16:14.600]you have that removal effect when we left residue in place, you did not.
[00:16:19.760]you had a higher bulk density. We already talked about that.
[00:16:23.990]It's a freeze thaw thing. Interesting enough, our,
[00:16:28.100]moralization seems to effect the soil more in our two to four inch mark where
[00:16:32.720]our cover crop and our manure are both decreasing the bulk density there
[00:16:36.440]compared to when we didn't do anything.
[00:16:38.540]And that's a good thing that decrease bulk density.
[00:16:41.060]When you decrease bulk density, you increase your poor space,
[00:16:44.090]which means you increase your porosity.
[00:16:45.950]And that means you have more of a potential to store water,
[00:16:48.050]and it's easier for that water to enter into our soil next.
[00:16:52.310]we didn't really have an effect on our maximum bulk density in our two to four
[00:16:56.450]inch. But interesting enough, when we look at our degree of compaction,
[00:17:00.470]we did have an effect here, similar when, when your soil is less compacted,
[00:17:04.820]when it starts, you can compact it more.
[00:17:06.800]That's what's going on with our maximum or with our degree of compaction.
[00:17:10.640]When we look at the no removal and removal here at the bottom part. Yeah.
[00:17:15.430]We're, we're just, able to compact it more.
[00:17:19.270]So that's why it's more compacted at its maximum bulk density compared to no
[00:17:23.530]removal. and interestingly enough, here,
[00:17:27.940]when you added a cover crop or use manure, Hey,
[00:17:31.300]you were able to make it so that the soil,
[00:17:35.050]didn't compact as much compared to when you didn't add anything in to treat that.
[00:17:39.490]Soil. W so.
[00:17:42.880]So what are the key points? What are the key takeaways? Well,
[00:17:45.190]corn residue treatments have less organic matter when we remove that residue.
[00:17:49.650]When your treatments had the most,
[00:17:51.210]it was a winner when it came to organic carbon treatments with corn residue had
[00:17:55.260]higher,
[00:17:56.250]field bulk density and treatments that removed residue could compact more,
[00:18:00.780]than when treatments, when you, left that residue in place next,
[00:18:05.730]you know what, aggravates some ability,
[00:18:07.680]it's an important thing it's looking at erosion.
[00:18:09.810]Do we have a chance to lose something away?
[00:18:11.730]We're looking at water erosion here with meanwhile diameter,
[00:18:14.160]it's our aggregate stability. And so what effects did we have?
[00:18:18.960]well, interestingly enough, we did have an irrigation effect.
[00:18:21.900]This is the only property that we actually had an irrigation effect.
[00:18:25.770]And so when we are looking at our deficit irrigation, we're using less water,
[00:18:30.540]you're gaining less than our full year irrigation amount.
[00:18:33.270]And our full irrigation amount actually had larger aggregates.
[00:18:36.480]There were more stable and preventing more erosion. So that, that,
[00:18:40.160]that's just an interesting effect that the see that pop up. Now,
[00:18:44.810]the first thing we're going to take a look at here with our mean weight
[00:18:47.040]diameters is, when we removed residue,
[00:18:51.090]was there an effect of, the removal and,
[00:18:55.860]when you use the cover crop,
[00:18:58.770]uh we're we're and then we're going to look at our cover crop treatments.
[00:19:02.400]So across the board, when you, when you removed residue,
[00:19:06.780]when there was no residue, we had lower,
[00:19:11.160]mean weight diameters, then when we left the residue in place.
[00:19:15.780]And so that's what the, no is no means we left residue in place. Yes.
[00:19:19.380]Means that we did remove it. now we're looking at cover crops,
[00:19:23.520]our cover crops, we're able to actually increase on top of that.
[00:19:28.200]They were able to actually help,
[00:19:30.570]beat back some of the negatives of that removal.
[00:19:34.410]Now our best one was our best case was when we left the
[00:19:39.240]residue in place. And we grew a cover crop. We had our most stable soil.
[00:19:43.710]So you have those roots, the extracts out of those roots,
[00:19:48.150]increasing our soils activity.
[00:19:51.090]and those extracts themselves extra dates,
[00:19:54.270]can also help bind the soul. And so, Hey,
[00:19:57.570]that's why we have a higher aggregate stability there.
[00:20:01.410]when we look at our two to four, there was really only the Stover effect.
[00:20:05.040]And then it,
[00:20:05.550]that that effect kind of disappears when we will look at our four to six and six
[00:20:08.910]to eight next we'll look at manure.
[00:20:12.690]What effect does Manira have on what aggregate stability? And so,
[00:20:18.180]not really much of a difference between when we didn't do anything, but Hey,
[00:20:22.860]definitely, that removal all effects there.
[00:20:27.180]and the only time it,
[00:20:28.290]it kinda changed manera was kind of like the second place thing,
[00:20:32.220]with trying to fight erosion,
[00:20:34.500]it kind of worked the values tended to be higher,
[00:20:37.230]but they weren't significantly higher. And so,
[00:20:42.870]interesting effects while manure had great effects for our,
[00:20:47.830]soil organic matter values, not so much with our mean weight,
[00:20:52.300]diameters or ag or aggregate stability.
[00:20:55.780]Our last one is when we left everything in place. And so right here,
[00:21:00.790]of course we have our lower, aggregates of ability values.
[00:21:05.350]And once again, that removal affects there. When we remove residue,
[00:21:08.650]we're definitely creating potential for that soil would be lost to water
[00:21:12.820]erosion.
[00:21:14.350]Our next thing we're going to take a look at is dry aggregate stability.
[00:21:17.230]This is looking at the potential for wind erosion, here in Nebraska,
[00:21:21.670]we need to worry about not just water erosion. When we have our heavy rains,
[00:21:25.450]in early in the season, we need to think about also,
[00:21:28.000]we have some high winds early in the season, especially before canopy,
[00:21:31.720]enclosure happens. So there's also the risk of the loss of soil due to the wind,
[00:21:36.250]very similar. So our right here,
[00:21:38.800]we're looking at our geometric mean wake diameter.
[00:21:41.500]That's what we're looking at for, how stable those aggregates are.
[00:21:46.720]The higher, the number,
[00:21:47.620]the more stable the aggregate is the harder it is to lose to a winter erosion.
[00:21:51.640]Once again, we had that effect when we removed residue,
[00:21:55.420]we made it so that it was easier for wind to remove that soil.
[00:21:59.740]We decrease that dry aggregate stability, and that was, you know, across that,
[00:22:04.800]that whole, treatment for that top. And so right here,
[00:22:09.970]it's just emphasizing that effect,
[00:22:12.340]our removal higher values than when we didn't,
[00:22:16.270]which means we have a chance for it to loss.
[00:22:19.240]Our other one we're looking at is our winter rotable fraction and that
[00:22:22.210]increases. So yeah, there was an effect on that. So the higher that number,
[00:22:26.380]the worse your soil is we're the more concerned you have.
[00:22:29.320]So we went from a 36% chance of losing soil to a
[00:22:33.820]64% chance where 65% chance when we removed that residue. So yes,
[00:22:38.530]there is a concern that when you bail residue,
[00:22:41.020]that you are having a chance to lose that residue or to lose your soil,
[00:22:45.760]especially your surface soil. So either water or window erosion.
[00:22:50.200]And so our key takeaways from these two is that aggressive removal,
[00:22:54.220]increases the risk of losing soil to either winter or water erosion and
[00:22:58.180]aggressive residue removals decrease our aggregate. stability
[00:23:04.420]are,
[00:23:06.180]another thing to take a look at is we talked about what the six year impacts
[00:23:10.150]were, what what's, the ten-year impacts on our water treatment tank.
[00:23:14.290]We're just looking at her storage tank here,
[00:23:15.850]which is just plant available water. And once again, when you remove residue,
[00:23:20.440]we have a lower value,
[00:23:21.460]meaning we're storing less water for plants to be able to take out and use.
[00:23:26.170]Now,
[00:23:27.400]this effect was a little bit more pronounced when we looked at it at the six
[00:23:31.420]year, it's still here, but it doesn't go quite as deep, at least significantly.
[00:23:35.890]When we look at statistics,
[00:23:37.060]it's not statistically different when we get to our lower depths,
[00:23:40.120]but we can still see, that trend, in that top four inches where,
[00:23:44.440]when we were removed, we're having lower values,
[00:23:47.690]we're storing a little bit less water, in place.
[00:23:53.090]And then our Memorial relation treatments,
[00:23:55.460]there was no impact of those on our storage tank after 10
[00:24:00.050]years.
[00:24:01.760]So, um.
[00:24:03.230]Until we got down to our four to six inch area, which interestingly enough,
[00:24:07.490]here, our cover crops, we're able to increase our plant available water.
[00:24:12.380]and we were seeding our cover crops probably about two inches in.
[00:24:17.000]So when you think about it,
[00:24:19.730]our four to six would be after about four inches of root growth,
[00:24:23.960]which is actually, feasible for the,
[00:24:26.990]how long we were allowing our cover crops to grow.
[00:24:32.920]Sorry, key points, we're going away from here is once again,
[00:24:36.370]re regressive residue can reduce plant available water. We saw that at our,
[00:24:41.320]zero to two and our six to eight inch area.
[00:24:45.130]this isn't a continuous effect after 10 years,
[00:24:47.680]it was a continuous effect at the six year.
[00:24:50.140]So that's another interesting part and cover crops helped increase plant
[00:24:54.700]available water in our four to six inch one. So what's, what's our story.
[00:24:58.990]So our story updated water infiltration, no effects at the 10 year mark,
[00:25:03.460]but it was reduced that to six year mark. For me,
[00:25:06.580]that means it's something to pay attention to.
[00:25:08.770]This is the rest of that could happen.
[00:25:10.150]It could be reduced if you're doing the Gretz of residue removal,
[00:25:13.750]you can reduce your water infiltration water retention that was not measured.
[00:25:18.130]They were just looking at plant available water.
[00:25:22.540]our plant available water was reduced at the surface and at the six to eight
[00:25:26.530]inches. So yes, this is something to be concerned about.
[00:25:32.080]when I look at our picture here and I see our aggregate stability is decreasing
[00:25:36.910]and our organic matters decreasing, I come, I start being concerned that,
[00:25:41.710]we're not improving our soil health. We're decreasing our soil health.
[00:25:45.430]So aggressive residue removal may not be something that we can do.
[00:25:48.820]And the long run, it's not something that, is sustainable.
[00:25:53.950]Other key points, manure had limited effects on soil properties,
[00:25:57.160]cover crops had limited effects. there is an effect,
[00:26:01.570]change the battery and how that change was different between the three year,
[00:26:05.720]the six year and the 10 year periods when that was measured. Well,
[00:26:09.280]what you have to remember is what I'm presenting you.
[00:26:11.620]These are snapshot moments in time.
[00:26:15.190]we can't measure continuously what's going on in our soil.
[00:26:18.220]We just don't have the capacity to do that. So,
[00:26:23.890]that's something that's taken mine and, you know,
[00:26:26.950]just because there was an effect,
[00:26:28.840]there wasn't a statistical effect doesn't mean that it's decreasing that you can
[00:26:32.290]still see that in the trends. So what does it mean for me?
[00:26:36.940]residue removal mean for managing our fields. So,
[00:26:41.500]when you bill a residue, you're increasing your risk for compaction.
[00:26:45.510]So you need to be considerate of that when you're thinking about how you're
[00:26:48.360]going to traffic in your fields fields that, have residue bill,
[00:26:51.900]there are higher risk for erosion.
[00:26:55.350]there's a lower soil, carbon value in it.
[00:26:58.080]So that means if you're looking to get into the carbon market values,
[00:27:01.530]where you're trying to build up carbon in your soul,
[00:27:04.050]the solos as carbon credits,
[00:27:05.880]bailing residue is not a practice you want to do because that's going to put you
[00:27:08.640]behind.
[00:27:10.230]and then a one time removal will not permanently harm your soil.
[00:27:13.980]I'm bringing this up because right now we have droughts going on around the U S.
[00:27:18.510]And so if you need to bail your corn residue to actually use it as a forage,
[00:27:22.410]it's not going to hurt. If you do it for one year,
[00:27:24.870]you're not going to have a negative effect and ruin your operation for years
[00:27:29.760]to come removing it once.
[00:27:32.610]the soil has the capacity to bounce back from that.
[00:27:37.650]So we have additional resources on this.
[00:27:40.770]we have some articles on crop watch there's some, publications,
[00:27:45.300]on how to remove residue.
[00:27:49.260]and so if you're interested in learning a little bit more or getting into this a
[00:27:53.190]little bit deeper, please, take a look at these resources or contact me.

The screen size you are trying to search captions on is too small!

You can always jump over to MediaHub and check it out there.

Comments

0 Comments

2 - 2021 South Central Ag Lab Field Day - Impacts of Residue Removal on Soil Properties

Description

Searchable Transcript

Comments icon comment

Related Channels

Comments