Yield and economic performance of crop rotation systems in South Dakota

Abstract

Crop yield and economic profitability, both highly dependent on local crop management, soil characteristics, and weather conditions, are among the most influential factors to consider when considering a cropping system. The objective of this study was to compare the economic returns of three different 4-yr diverse crop rotations with that of a 2-yr traditional crop rotation in eastern South Dakota. The rotations included were (a) corn (Zea mays L.)-soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.]-spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)-pea (Pisum sativum L.) (CSSwP), (b) corn-pea-winter wheat-soybean (CPWwS), (c) corn-oat (Avena sativa L.)-winter wheat-soybean (COWwS), and (d) corn-soybean (CS). Results showed that total cost for the CS rotation was 7.2, 14.9, and 18.2% greater than the COWwS, CSSwP, and CPWwS rotations, respectively. Whereas CS rotation had comparable corn yield with CSSwP and COWwS rotations, its soybean yield ranked the lowest among all the rotations.When N fertilizer application fell below the level necessary to achieve for yield maximization, the CS rotation demonstrated a lack of resilience as indicated by a continual decline in economic returns over time. In comparison, the CSSwP rotation demonstrated high resilience to reduced N fertilizer application rate, and its net revenue was the highest among all rotations and surpassed the CS. Our results suggest that extending the traditional CS rotation to the more diversified CSSwP rotation could simultaneously reduce input costs and overreliance on N fertilizer.Abbreviations: COWwS, corn-oat-winter wheat-soybean; CPWwS, corn-pea-winter wheat-soybean; CS, corn-soybean; CSSwP, corn-soybean-spring wheat-pea.This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Effects of Soybean–Corn Rotation on Crop Yield, Economic Benefits, and Water Productivity in the Corn Belt of Northeast China

“…It is difficult to improve the water productivity of crops if the crop yield cannot be increased during a rotation [8]. At crop anthesis in the rotations, spring wheat and corn had different densities of root lengths [47], which may have caused variations in the uptake of water and nutrients by crops [48] and changes in the amount and activity of microorganisms, ultimately leading to different grain yields for the crops that were subsequently planted [15]. This is also the focus of future research on the rotation of corn and soybean in the CBNC.…”

“…A rotation includes two or more crops, which frequently have different needs for soil moisture. The crops could complement each other in a rotation system [14,15]. Soybean not only affects the soil environment but also affects the yield of the next crop of corn [16,17].…”

“…There have been different comprehensive studies on corn-soybean crop rotations on the yields, economic benefits, and WUE in the CBNC [6,8,21,22]. Two of the most important elements to consider when choosing a cropping system are crop production and economic profitability, which is heavily reliant on local crop management, soil qualities, and weather patterns [15]. The increased risk of soil erosion, nitrate loss owing to leaching, and loss of organic matter due to bare soil over the winter in temperate regions are the main reasons why the corn-soybean rotation has a detrimental impact on the health of the soil [23,24].…”

Production and profitability of maize and soybean grown in rotation in the North-Western Free State, South Africa

“…Crop production and profitability is highly dependent on crop management (Feng et al, 2021). Crop rotation is an on-farm strategy that has potential to decrease production risks and increase profitability by optimising nutrient availability, managing pests and diseases, suppressing weeds, enhancing soil structure and buffering the effects of extreme climate conditions (Acevedo-Siaca and Goldsmith, 2020;Meena et al, 2018).…”

“…Crop rotation is an on-farm strategy that has potential to decrease production risks and increase profitability by optimising nutrient availability, managing pests and diseases, suppressing weeds, enhancing soil structure and buffering the effects of extreme climate conditions (Acevedo-Siaca and Goldsmith, 2020;Meena et al, 2018). Maize-soybean rotations are ideal in that they require simple management, similar equipment, sufficient seed availability, and they have relatively high market prices (Feng et al, 2021). However, the challenge is to find sustainable systems that are suitable for a specific environment (Strauss et al, 2021).…”