Controlled drainage‐subirrigation (CDS), conservation tillage, and corn (Zea mays L.) production practices were evaluated as methods of reducing NO−3 loss through tile drainage. Controlled drainage‐subirrigation was used to manage water from precipitation and subirrigation. Samples of tile drainage (5801) and surface runoff (3274) water were collected with autosamplers during each runoff event over a 3‐yr period. Annual tile drainage volumes were reduced 24% with CDS compared with the drainage (DR) treatments. Flow weighted mean NO−3 concentration of tile drainage water was reduced 25% from 10.6 mg N L−1 for the DR treatments to 7.9 mg N L−1 for the CDS treatments. The average annual NO−3 loss was reduced 43% from 25.8 kg N ha−1 for the DR treatment to 14.6 kg N ha−1 for the CDS treatments. Eighty‐eight to 95% of the NO−3 losses from all treatments occurred in the noncrop period (1 Nov.–31 Apr.). Conservation tillage in combination with CDS reduced annual NO−3 losses 49% (11.6 kg N ha−1) when compared with the conventional moldboard plow tillage and DR treatment. Annual NO−3 loss through surface runoff was increased to 1.9 kg N ha−1 with the CDS treatments compared with 1.4 kg N ha−1 with the DR treatment, this loss was minor compared with losses incurred through tile drainage. Controlled drainage‐subirrigation is a technological advancement in soil and water management as it enables farmers to minimize the effect of dry summers on crop growth and reduce NO−3 contamination of drainage water.
No‐tillage systems on fine‐textured soil are not well suited for corn (Zea mays L.) because of problems with excess water, lower temperatures, and residue management during the early stages of corn growth. This is a problem, as corn is commonly used in rotation with wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.]. Furthermore, when corn follows winter wheat there may be additional problems associated with residue management during the early stages of corn growth. Hence, the objectives of this study were to measure the effect of the red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) cover crop underseeded in wheat and no‐tillage on soil temperature, water content, corn emergence, surface residue, and yields in a wheat‐cornsoybean rotation in southwestern Ontario. Treatments included conventional vs. no‐tillage both with and without underseeded red clover in a wheat‐corn‐soybean rotation in a clay loam soil. A no‐tillage and red clover treatment that had the wheat straw baled was also included. No‐tillage (with and without red clover) increased soil water content by 2 to 5% and reduced soil temperatures by 1 to 2°C during early corn emergence. Soil drying occurred along the planting slot of the no‐tillage treatments, which enabled the soil seed furrow to open and the corn seedlings to become water stressed even though the notillage treatments were wetter in the spring. Corn emergence in the no‐tillage treatment without red clover was delayed by 3 to 4 d and the final plant stand was reduced by 24% compared with the conventional tillage treatment. The no‐tillage treatment without red clover had 13% lower corn grain yield than the conventional tillage treatment averaged over three years. However, when red clover was included with no‐tillage, corn emergence was increased and corn grain yields were not significantly different from conventional tillage in both 1994 and 1996. There was also 15% less dry weight of surface plant residue present in the no‐tillage treatments when red clover was included. Hence, red clover alleviated some of the problems of no‐tillage for corn production.
Conservation tillage has become an attractive form of agricultural management practices for corn and soybean production on heavy textured soil in southern Ontario because of the potential for improving soil quality. A controlled drainage system combined with conservation tillage practices has also been reported to improve water quality. In Southwestern Ontario, field scale on farm demonstration sites were established in a paired watershed (no-tillage vs. conventional tillage) on clay loam soil to study the effect of tillage system on soil structure and water quality. The sites included controlled drainage and free drainage systems to monitor their effect on nitrate loss in the tile drainage water. Soil structure, organic matter content and water storage in the soil profile were improved with no-tillage (NT) compared to conventional tillage (CT). No-tillage also increased earthworm populations. No-tillage was found to have higher tile drainage volume and nitrate loss which were attributed to an increase in soil macropores from earthworm activity. The controlled drainage system (CD) reduced nitrate loss in tile drainage water by 14% on CT site and 25.5% on NT site compared to the corresponding free drainage system (DR) from May, 1995 to April 30, 1997. No-tillage farming practices are definitely enhanced by using a controlled drainage system for preventing excessive nitrate leaching through tile drainage. Average soybean yields for CT site were about 12 to 14% greater than the NT site in 1995 and 1996. However, drainage systems had very little effect on soybean yields in 1995 and 1996 due to extremely dry growing seasons.
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