Soil Responses as Affected by Long-term No-till Practices

Soil Responses as Affected by Long-term No-till Practices Cavin Foster, Jonathan Hudgens, Nolan Mullican, Iin Handayani HUTSON SCHOOL OF AGRICULTURE, MURRAY STATE UNIVERSITY Abstract Understanding the effects of no-till practices can greatly influence the agriculture community and create better innovation for the future. The objective of the study was to compare selected soil properties from samples collected from the four land uses. Interest was given to no-till compared to conventional-till systems. The study site was in a diverse area of Hickman County, Kentucky. Soil samples were collected in a three-block section of each study site. At each location, three disturbed samples were collected as well as three undisturbed samples. Each sample was taken in two depths of 0-7.5 cm and 7.5-15 cm. A total of 48 samples were analyzed. The study sites are broken into their respective ecosystems with the following titles: long term pasture (50 years), long term wooded area (50 years), long-term conventional till practices (50 years), and long-term no-till practices (50 years). The arable agricultural land is crop rotated between corn and soybeans on a yearly basis. This year both the no-till and conventional till arable agriculture land were planted in corn. The soil data collected is the level of acidity, bulk density, organic matter, water holding capacity, water field capacity, and porosity. The detailed results will be presented in the poster. The research findings will help producers decide if no-till practices will benefit their overall soil health and sustainable agriculture. Keywords: Hickman County, KY, No-till, Soil, Soil Organic Matter, Soil Porosit