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Production Papers

Soybean Response to Zone Tillage, Twin-Row Planting, and Row Spacing

^a Dep. of Plant Agriculture, Univ. of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada N1G 2W1
^b Agronomy Dep., Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN 47907-2054

^* Corresponding author (bdeen{at}uoguelph.ca)

Received for publication August 8, 2005. Although zone tillage can result in favorable in-row seedbed environments for high crop yield while providing soil conservation characteristics similar to no-till, it necessitates a wide row width planting system. The objective of this study was to evaluate various zone-till systems for soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] production. This study was conducted in southwestern Ontario from 1998 to 2000 on nine fields with clay contents between 133 and 354 g kg^–1 and a minimum 5-yr continuous no-till history. Tillage systems evaluated were fall moldboard, fall zone-till 15- and 30-cm deep, spring coulter tillage, and no-till. The no-till and moldboard systems were planted in equally spaced 19-, 38-, 57-, and 76-cm rows plus a twin-row configuration consisting of two 19-cm rows centered 76 cm apart. Only single 76-cm and twin-row configurations were planted in the zone-till and coulter-till systems, where tillage was conducted in strips centered 76 cm apart. Twin-row configurations in no-till, spring coulter-till, and fall zone-till systems often increased yields over those obtained with single 76-cm rows, with yields that were always similar to those obtained with no-till planted in 38- or 19-cm rows. Depth of fall zone tillage did not affect soybean yield. Fall zone-till yields never exceeded those obtained with no-till, even in environments where no-till yields were less than those obtained with fall moldboard systems. Spring coulter tillage did not increase yields over those obtained with no-till. Future research evaluating zone-till systems for soybean should consider using twin-row planting configurations.