Effects of Alfalfa, Crop Sequence, and Tillage Practice on Intake Rates of Pullman Silty Clay Loam and Grain Yields

The High Plains of Texas is one of the largest irrigated areas in the United States. Most of the 5.7 million acres irrigated in Texas (1959 census) is concentrated in the High Plains. The area is unique because most of the irrigated land is of one soil series-Pullman. Pullman soils represent over 5 million acres of the “hardlands” in the Southern High Plains of Texas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. The term “hardlands” is used extensively when referring to the High Plains because of the soil characteristics of the area. The soils are mostly clay loams and silty clay loams. The have low intake rates, are dense, and become very hard and difficult to till when dry. The differences between the clay loams and silty clay loams are minor. The physical characteristics of a given layer of these Pullman soils are very uniform over large areas, some as extensive as several counties