Improvements in the Structural State of Soils Under Leys

Low, A. J.

doi:10.1111/j.1365-2389.1955.tb00842.x

Cited by 59 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 8 publications

(6 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 56%

“…The index derived from contrasting long-term sod and no sod in rotation (SDI SOD ) had the strongest level of agreement with farmer SQ ratings of the three indices. This is not surprising as the positive impact of sod on SQ has been described by many authors [47][48][49] . The index based on farmer ratings (SDI FR ) was calculated as a linear function of two parameters, C NMW and C SIR , which were selected because they optimized discrimination between unpaired good and poor rated soils.…”

Section: Relationships Between Sq Ratings By Farmers and Indices And supporting

confidence: 53%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Farmer perceptions of soil quality and their relationship to management-sensitive soil parameters

Gruver

Weil

2007

Renew. Agric. Food Syst.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A critical step in the quantification of soil quality (SQ) is the selection of SQ benchmarks. The benchmarks used in this study were SQ ratings made by 32 farmer collaborators representing a range of farming systems, scales of operation and geographic locations in the Mid-Atlantic region of USA. Soils from 45 pairs of sites identified by their farmers as having good and poor SQ were sampled over three seasons and analyzed for 19 soil parameters. Farmer judgments of SQ were based on many factors, most commonly soil organic matter, crop performance, soil water availability and erosion history. Selected individual soil parameters were normalized and integrated into an additive SQ index (SQI). Three additional indices were developed using discriminant analysis. The level of agreement between individual parameters, SQIs and farmer SQ ratings was evaluated using paired t-tests and mean percent difference values. The additive SQI was found to have the highest level of agreement with farmer SQ ratings (P<0.0001), demonstrating that a linear combination of soil parameters can be assembled that is more in agreement with holistic SQ criteria, such as farmer SQ ratings, than individual soil parameters. Extractable C from microwave (MW) sterilized soil (a measure of microbial biomass) was the individual parameter that best agreed with farmer SQ ratings (P<0.0001). Five additional soil C parameters, as well as aggregate stability, also agreed well with farmer SQ ratings (all P values <0.0005). The three parameters with the highest ratio of mean percent difference to coefficient of variation (an indication of parameter reliability) were extractable C from MW sterilized soil, anthrone reactive C and macroaggregate stability (14.2, 7.7 and 3.7, respectively). Mineral fertility parameters (pH, Ca, Ca:Mg ratio, P and K) were not significantly related to farmer SQ ratings (P values >0.05). The strong relationships observed between soil C parameters, soil structural parameters and farmer SQ ratings suggest that efforts to improve SQ in the study region should focus on monitoring and enhancement of soil C and soil structure.

show abstract

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 56%

Section: Relationships Between Sq Ratings By Farmers and Indices And supporting

confidence: 53%

Farmer perceptions of soil quality and their relationship to management-sensitive soil parameters

Gruver

Weil

2007

Renew. Agric. Food Syst.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…There is an increase in waterstable soil aggregates but the rate ofchange is slow (Low 1955). On medium or heavy textured soils many years must lapse before the physical condition of the soil reaches that found under permanent pastures.…”

Section: The Grassland Research Institute Hurley Berksmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leys and Subsequent Arable Productivity*

Williams

1960

Grass and Forage Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Leys have appeared in most of the crop rotations practised in this country since the early nineteenth century. Enclosure, and the adoption of regular crop rotation, against a background of practices aimed at good conservation of animal and plant residues, increased crop yields. The legumes in the leys contributed in no small degree to the general improvement.Red clover and sainfoin in various regions and on difTering soil types became firmly established in leys. Sainfoin varieties were available that would last for many years to produce long leys that vtere productive of herbage and aiso increased the fertility of soils which were otherwise difficult to maintain in a reasonable degree of productivity. These were the thin chalk or oolitic soils and calcareous sandy soils. In all these districts well adapted local varieties of sainfoin were found. Although lucerne was well known to many ofthe agricultural innovators towards the end of the eighteenth and the early nineteenth century the plant did not at the time become established as a farm crop of any importance. It is only in recent decades that lucerne has become well established and then only in parts of south and east England.The higher rainfall regions with their more or less acid soils were, comparatively, not so well served in respect to herbage legumes suitable for leys longer than one or two years until, early in this century, the value of wild white clover and the significance of obtaining seed from old pastures were recognised. In those regions where a long ley featured in the cropping sequence the impact of using wild white clover was as marked in its effect on the yield of tillage crops as on the productivity of the ley itself. The value of wild white clover in the ley and its impact on tillage crop yields are well illustrated in accounts of farming systems in north-east Scotland by Cruickshank (1925Cruickshank ( . 1936 covering the period of introduction of wild white clover in the leys.The value of the ley in alternate husbandry is based very largely on the experience of established praetice. The beneficial efieets of the ley in crop rotation have been extolled from earliest times (see Stewart & Eusscll. 1929) and more recently by others (Elliot 1898, Stapledon & Davies 1942. However, what is of greatest interest at present is the nature of the many changes whieh occur in the soil when the land is in ley and the relative influence of these individual changes on the productivity of crops which follow leys. Of equal importance is the fact that leys are established from widely differing seeds mixtures and are subjected to different management practices. This paper mainly deals with these latter considerations of the effect of various types of leys and their management on the yield of thi; following crops.It was not by chance that the earliest leys u.sed in English farming were in the main almost exclusively based on sowings of clover alone. The proportion of clover to grass has a most marked effeet on subsequent crop yields (other than a leguminous cr...

show abstract

“…Adverse structural conditions such as compaction in or beneath the plough layer, and surface crusting, cause restrictions in crop growth which depress yields (Batey and Davies, 1971;Low, 1973). When intensive arable farming replaces systems which include long grass leys, a progressive decline in organic matter levels is frequently noted.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…A M O N G the soil constituents which are known to influence soil physical conditions the role of organic matter has been much emphasised (Low, 1955;Russell, 197 1). It has been found to influence soil compactibility (Soane et al, 1972), soil bulk density and porosity (Davies, 1975), plastic limits (Baver, 1930;Boekel, 1965) and aggregation (Greacen, 1958).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of Organic Matter on the Physical Properties of Some East Anglian Soils of High Silt Content

Hamblin

Davies²

1977

Journal of Soil Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A comparison was made of the physical properties of pairs of silt soils differing only in organic matter content. Within the textural group studied, the member of the pair with more organic matter had better physical properties relating to both plant growth and soil management. Increased organic matter give higher water holding capacities and porosities, and decreased compaction, breaking strength and bulk densities. Organic matter content alone was not sufficient to explain differences in aggregate stability to water.

show abstract

Improvements in the Structural State of Soils Under Leys

Cited by 59 publications

References 8 publications

Farmer perceptions of soil quality and their relationship to management-sensitive soil parameters

Farmer perceptions of soil quality and their relationship to management-sensitive soil parameters

Leys and Subsequent Arable Productivity*

Influence of Organic Matter on the Physical Properties of Some East Anglian Soils of High Silt Content

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About