Long-term reduced tillage and winter cover crops can improve soil quality without depleting moisture

California farmers who use reduced-disturbance tillage and winter cover cropping can boost production and improve soil health. However, some farmers are hesitant to try these conservation practices due to uncertainty about whether planting winter cover crops will deplete soil moisture in already dro...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inBerkeley undergraduate journal of classics Vol. 77; no. 1; pp. 4 - 14
Main Authors Gomes, Anna, Devincentis, Alyssa J, Solis, Samuel Sandoval, Zaccaria, Daniele, Munk, Daniel, Bali, Khaled M, Shrestha, Anil, Gould, Kennedy, Mitchell, Jeffrey P
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Berkeley Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources of the University of California 2023
University of California Digital Library - eScholarship
University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources
Subjects
Agricultural industry
Agricultural practices
California
Conservation practices
Conservation tillage
Cover crops
Crop production
Crops
Depletion
Drought
Droughts
Farmers
Moisture content
Rainfall
Soil conservation
Soil improvement
Soil moisture
Soil quality
Soil water
Tillage
Water content
Water levels
Water shortages
Winter
California
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:California farmers who use reduced-disturbance tillage and winter cover cropping can boost production and improve soil health. However, some farmers are hesitant to try these conservation practices due to uncertainty about whether planting winter cover crops will deplete soil moisture in already drought-stricken regions. Our study addresses these concerns by looking at how long-term reduced-disturbance tillage and winter cover cropping, compared to fallowed soils with standard tillage, affected soil moisture. Although we found a statistical difference in total soil water content, the difference was only about 0.3 inches of water per foot of soil. On average, the soil water content of the top 0–96 inches was highest for the reduced-disturbance fields with winter cover crops. This was especially evident during our driest field season, from November 1, 2017, to March 15, 2018, when cumulative rainfall was only 1.9 inches. Our findings show that winter cover cropping and reduced-disturbance tillage can improve soil without depleting soil water levels in row crops.
ISSN:0008-0845
2160-8091
2373-7115
DOI:10.3733/ca.2023a0001