Effect of soil compaction and cover crop management on soil physical quality, biomass production and corn and soybean yield

ABSTRACT No-till with cover crop (CC) has been marketed to growers as a sustainable way to increase soil quality and crop yields. Our goal was to better understand the effect of CC management strategies on crop yield and mitigation of soil compaction. The compaction treatments were: four (C4) and eight (C8) wheel passes of a tractor, and without additional compaction (C0). CCs in autumn/winter were Italian ryegrass (IR) hay, IR as CC, and mix of IR and forage radish as CC. In the spring/summer, corn and soybean were cultivated. The reduction of hydraulic conductivity (0–6 cm depth) after first season in the IR hay was 74.9% in C4 and 96.2% in C8 comparted with C0. Overall, harvested CC has limited capacity to respond to compaction, decreasing root growth (root biomass of 2191, 2753, and 3744 kg ha−1, IR hay, IR CC, and mix, respectively). Further, the negative effects of compaction on crop yield were modest, probably because of the low axle loads and contact stresses; high inherent structural stability of Oxisols; and permanent no-till and CC roots which favored soil structure stability. Future works should use higher axle loads and surface stresses and a control treatment without CC.