TY - JOUR T1 - Economics of tillage practices and spring wheat and barley crop sequence in the northern great plains JF - Journal of Soil and Water Conservation SP - 167 LP - 170 VL - 51 IS - 2 AU - J.K. Aase AU - G.M. Schaefer Y1 - 1996/03/01 UR - http://www.jswconline.org/content/51/2/167.abstract N2 - Our objective was to analyze economics of spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) cropping and tillage practices after 10 years of evaluation. We initiated the study in 1983 on a Dooley sandy loam (fine-loamy, mixed Typic Argiboroll) 11 km (7 mi) north of Culbertson, Montana. Annually cropped tillage treatments included sweep tillage in fall with spring disking, sweep tillage in spring, and no-till. A conventional fallow-crop rotation was included. Spring wheat yields ranged from 74 kg/ha (1.1 bu/acre) to 3,465 kg/ha (51.5 bu/acre). Net return was highest for no-till annually cropped wheat at $19.04/ha ($7.71/acre) and lowest for barley-spring wheat rotation at -$23.74/ha (-$9.61/acre). Under conditions of this 10-year study, in a 356 mm (14 in.) precipitation zone, we conclude that annually cropped no-till wheat production was the most profitable cropping practice. ER -