The corn-soybean rotation is the dominant cropping system on farmland throughout central Canada and the midwestern United States. However, long-term research shows that this rotation has lower crop yields, soil quality, resilience to climate change, and profitability.
The warming of the earth’s climate and an increasing global population is presenting enormous challenges for the agricultural industry to increase food production. More frequent extreme weather events caused by climate change, such as drought, are problematic for the Northern Corn Belt, where simple two-crop rotations of corn and soybean are common.
Diverse crop rotations - those with a greater variety of crops over time – have been recently promoted as a means to conserve or increase of soil organic carbon, a key indicator of soil health. But taking a critical view of this claim, is it supported by science?
To till or not to till, if only there was an easy answer! Thankfully, a long-term research trial at the Ontario Crops Research Centre-Ridgetown can give us a place to start.
Originally posted in Farmtario: https://farmtario.com/crops/finding-the-right-fungus/?module=carousel Do you have fungus? Your fields certainly do, though the varieties vary based on several factors. While tillage levels, rotational diversity and cover crops affect…
Soils at Guelph partnered with Grain Farmers of Ontario to host two webinars showcasing research from 65 years of long-term rotation trials at the Elora Research Station and Ridgetown Campus.…
This study set out to evaluate crop rotation diversity, perenniality, carbon inputs, and carbon input quality as predictors of soil organic carbon concentration and aggregate size.
First published in Farmtario: https://farmtario.com/crops/lasting-impact-technology-helps-living-soils-knowledge/ This article is the final instalment of a three-part series highlighting lessons learned from two long-term crop rotation experiments at the Ontario Crops Research Centres…
First published in Farmtario: https://farmtario.com/crops/lasting-impact-the-secret-to-increasing-carbon-is-in-the-soil/ This article is part two of a three-part series highlighting lessons learned from two long-term crop rotation experiments at the Ontario Crops Research Centres in…
First published in Farmtario: https://farmtario.com/crops/lasting-impact-the-penalty-of-poor-crop-rotations/ This article is part one of a three-part series highlighting lessons learned from two long-term crop rotation experiments at the Ontario Crops Research Centres in…
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