Agronomy Journal Journal of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Education
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Published online 1 November 1979
Published in Agron J 71:1005-1008 (1979)
© 1979 American Society of Agronomy
677 S. Segoe Rd., Madison, WI 53711 USA
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Hageman, N. R.
Right arrow Articles by Shrader, W. D.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Hageman, N. R.
Right arrow Articles by Shrader, W. D.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Hageman, N. R.
Right arrow Articles by Shrader, W. D.

Effects of Crop Sequence and N Fertilizer Levels on Soil Bulk Density

N. R. Hageman and W. D. Shrader2

The effect of intensive corn (Zea mays L.) production on soil properties and on the productive capacity of soils is a matter of continuing concern. A 20-year comparison of continuous corn (CCCC) and a corn-oats (Avena sativa L.)-meadow-meadow (COMM) rotation with various N rates on Webster silty clay loam, a Typic Haplaquoll, in north-central Iowa, provided the opportunity to measure soil changes induced by these two widely differing cropping systems.

It was found that, at the 15 cm depth, the soil bulk density in the CCCC and COMM rotations was 1.17 and 1.13 g/cm8, respectively. The difference was attributed to less machinery travel and greater organic matter production on the COMM rotation. When the N fertilizer treatments were compared at the 15 cm depth, the soil bulk density of the 134 kg N/ha treatment was 1.10 g/cm8, and the 0 kg N/ha treatment was 1.20 g/cm8. The difference here was attributed to greater production of organic matter in the higher N treatment.

The organic matter content was 5.02 and 5.52% in the CCCC and COMM rotations, respectively. In the 0 kg N/ha treatment and the 134 kg N/ha treatment, the organic matter content was 5.21 and 5.33%, respectively. As the soil organic matter increased, the soil bulk density decreased.

Key Words: Soil bulk density • Soil physical characteristics • Crop rotation • Cropping systems

1 Journal Paper No. J-9382 of the Iowa Agric. and Home Econ. Exp. Stn., Ames, Iowa. Proj. No. 1909.

2 Graduate research assistant and professor, respectively.

Received for publication January 10, 1979.




HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
The SCI Journals Crop Science Vadose Zone Journal
Journal of Natural Resources
and Life Sciences Education		 Soil Science Society of America Journal
Journal of Plant Registrations Journal of
Environmental Quality		 The Plant Genome
Copyright © 1979 by the American Society of Agronomy.