Effects of residue harvesting on water runoff, soil erosion and nutrient loss

doi:10.1016/0167-8809(86)90097-6

Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment

Volume 16, Issue 2, June 1986, Pages 103-112

https://doi.org/10.1016/0167-8809(86)90097-6 Get rights and content

Abstract

The effect of corn (rZea mays L.) stover harvest on water funoff, soil erosion and nutrient transport under a reudced tillaage and no-till plant system was investigated in the northwestern Corn Belt (U.S.A.). Increased levels of corn stover harvest resulted in increased water runoff and soil erosion. Nutrient removal from the cropping system generally exceeded standard fertilization practices when either high levels of corn stover were harvested or soil erosion levels approached the soil loss tolerance levekl of 11.2 tons ha⁻¹ year⁻¹.

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Cited by (92)

Evaluation of runoff and soil erosion under conventional tillage and no-till management: A case study in northeast Italy
2021, Catena
Conservation agriculture, and in particular no-till systems, generally yield improvements in both soil characteristics (e.g. structure, and water holding capacity) and soil processes (such as runoff and hence erosion). Nevertheless, during the first years of no-till, the soil is prone to compaction due to the poor structure, missing ploughing activities, and passage of tractors and machinery, thus favouring surface runoff and soil erosion. Little information exists about the effect of no-till when applied during the transition period from conventional to conservation agriculture. This study aimed at analysing runoff and soil erosion in a non-tilled field in comparison with a tilled field during the transition period. The study was conducted at the Padova University Experimental Farm, in northeast Italy. Six sub-plots (2.5 m × 5 m) were established, three in a tilled field (CT plot) and three in a non-tilled field (NT plot). Each sub-plot was equipped with a runoff water collection system. Runoff was monitored during two sampling seasons: from May to October 2017 and May to September 2018. Runoff water volume was measured at each rainfall event, and the amount of sediment was quantified by drying the runoff samples. This technique is simple and inexpensive and suitable to be applied also in rural areas with inadequate infrastructures and economic resources. Two indices, runoff reduction benefits (RRB) and sediment reduction benefits (SRB), were computed. During the monitoring period, 24 runoff events occurred. NT practices coincided with reductions of over 50% in runoff volumes and 50% to 95% in sediment losses. Only the runoff event just after the CT soil harrowing produced a significantly lower runoff and sediment loss in CT than in NT field, due to the effect of soil tillage on surface roughness and rainfall infiltration. The average sediment concentration in NT was only 47% of CT. The RRB and SRB values confirmed a reduction in runoff and sediment loss in the NT compared with the CT plot, but SRB was greater than the RRB, indicating that the no-till regime showed a better control of sediment loss than it did the runoff amount. The reduced runoff and sediment yield in the NT plot could have important on-site benefits in terms of both sustainable soil management and surface water quality.
Pairing soil sampling with very-high resolution UAV imagery: An examination of drivers of soil and nutrient movement and agricultural productivity in southern Ontario
2020, Geoderma
Soil erosion from agricultural lands continues to be a global societal problem. The movement of soils is often accompanied by nitrogen and phosphorus that are crucial to crop growth, but their redistribution from farm fields to waterways can reduce crop yields and degrade water quality. While within-field sediment and nutrient movement has been quantified using small plots and edge-of-field monitoring, these approaches fail to capture their spatial distribution. The pairing of soil sampling with unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) data offers a novel and low-cost approach to map the spatial distribution of soil characteristics and nutrient concentrations within a farm field. UAV data are used to generate a digital terrain model and subsequently map within-field topographic variation and erosional flow pathways. Topographic variation is discretized into landform elements (flat, shoulder, backslope, footslope) that capture within-field heterogeneity and have potential for scaling out soil sampling to larger spatial extents. Our results show the controlling factor of water content and organic matter on crop yield, as represented by normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). Significant differences in water content and organic matter were found across landform elements with increases in both parameters downslope. Upslope landform elements contained more sand content (9–20%) and had lower NDVI values than downslope elements. Complementing these findings, significant differences in organic matter, soluble nitrogen, and soluble reactive phosphorus occurred along erosional flow pathways. Our within-field results have implications for farmers, as our analysis of soil characteristics indicated that NDVI was positively correlated with water content (0.05), organic matter (0.15), silt (0.36), and clay (0.17) content and negatively correlated with soluble nitrogen (−0.47) and phosphorus (−0.30) concentrations. In addition to discussing the challenges and opportunities for expanding upon the presented research, we use a simple proof-of-concept hydrological model to demonstrate the potential role of hydrological connectivity and variable source area as a driver of within-field nutrient movement. The combination of our empirical results showing water content and organic matter as controlling factors on agricultural yield, the role of hydrological connectivity, and climate predictions of increased storm intensity suggest that additional research into the generation of novel time-series soil sampling and UAV-generated erosion and flow data could advance our understanding of the variations in soil characteristics and nutrient concentrations within individual farm fields.
Carbon and biofuel footprinting of global production of biofuels
2019, Biomass, Biopolymer-Based Materials, and Bioenergy: Construction, Biomedical, and other Industrial Applications
It is an established fact that the Earth is sensitive enough to respond to the activities of humans. It is also an open secret that if we move in accordance with the will and nature of Earth with actions parallel to the nature of this beautiful planet then it will reciprocate with blessings for humans, if not then the whole of humankind must be ready to face the wrath of nature in one way or another or even face the possibility of a threat to the very existence of humankind.
Biofuel is one of the most stunning alternatives to carbon petroleum products. The emission of carbon and other harmful greenhouse gases from the petroleum fuel are creating numerous problems to the health of people and also threatening the planet generally. However, biofuel is a product which can not only sort out the human need for fuel but also create the least amount of problems for nature. In this chapter we discuss the different types of biofuel, particularly in agriculture, where the residues and waste have a great impact and use in biofuel mechanisms. On the other hand, we have limitations from an agricultural land point of view because it could change its basic nature of the land from the crop cultivation point of view.
Potential impacts of agricultural land use on soil cover in response to bioenergy production in Canada
2018, Land Use Policy
The introduction of a market for agricultural biomass to feed large-scale second generation bioenergy (cellulosic ethanol) or other bio-products has positive implications for food producers and bio-product industries but may impact soil quality. In order to assess the potential impact on Canada’s agricultural lands, we integrated land use and soil capability maps and land management information to introduce several scenarios of crop residue harvest rates and land use conversions. The implications for soil quality, as represented by soil cover, were assessed for each scenario. The results showed that average soil cover at the national scale would decrease by more than 1 day if 40% of annual crop residues (by mass) were harvested, but the negative impacts could be resolved by increased adoption of conservation tillage methods. Additional biomass could be produced by converting low quality agricultural land to perennial biomass crops, but this would result in increased intensity of food production on high quality land. The total area of high and low quality land within the agricultural region of Canada is roughly equal, and the amount of high quality land currently used for perennial crops is about the same as the amount of low quality land used for annual crops, and ‘balancing’ production with capability would result in a net increase in both food and biofuel feedstock, with little impact to soil quality. About 6.73 M ha of high quality land is covered by forest, shrub and grass, and conversion of this land to agricultural production would have a negative impact on soil quality. The study indicates considerable potential for production of both food and biofuel feedstock on Canada’s agricultural lands through careful land use planning. Our analysis using soil cover as an indicator of environmental sustainability also indicates that land use planning should be cautious to prevent soil degradation. Particularly, regional variability of land use and soil capability distribution requires region specific land use policy for sustainable biofuel feedstock production.
Evaluation of bioenergy crop growth and the impacts of bioenergy crops on streamflow, tile drain flow and nutrient losses in an extensively tile-drained watershed using SWAT
2018, Science of the Total Environment
Large quantities of biofuel production are expected from bioenergy crops at a national scale to meet US biofuel goals. It is important to study biomass production of bioenergy crops and the impacts of these crops on water quantity and quality to identify environment-friendly and productive biofeedstock systems. SWAT2012 with a new tile drainage routine and improved perennial grass and tree growth simulation was used to model long-term annual biomass yields, streamflow, tile flow, sediment load, and nutrient losses under various bioenergy scenarios in an extensively agricultural watershed in the Midwestern US. Simulated results from bioenergy crop scenarios were compared with those from the baseline. The results showed that simulated annual crop yields were similar to observed county level values for corn and soybeans, and were reasonable for Miscanthus, switchgrass and hybrid poplar. Removal of 38% of corn stover (3.74 Mg/ha/yr) with Miscanthus production on highly erodible areas and marginal land (17.49 Mg/ha/yr) provided the highest biofeedstock production (279,000 Mg/yr). Streamflow, tile flow, erosion and nutrient losses were reduced under bioenergy crop scenarios of bioenergy crops on highly erodible areas and marginal land. Corn stover removal did not result in significant water quality changes. The increase in sediment and nutrient losses under corn stover removal could be offset with the combination of other bioenergy crops. Potential areas for bioenergy crop production when meeting the criteria above were small (10.88 km²), thus the ability to produce biomass and improve water quality was not substantial. The study showed that corn stover removal with bioenergy crops both on highly erodible areas and marginal land could provide more biofuel production relative to the baseline, and was beneficial to water quality at the watershed scale, providing guidance for further research on evaluation of bioenergy crop scenarios in a typical extensively tile-drained watershed in the Midwestern U.S.
Economic viability of lime-treated corn stover in finishing beef cattle diets
2017, Professional Animal Scientist
Citation Excerpt :
Midwestern soils typically have T-Factors between 2.24 and 11.21 Mg/ha per year. Decades of data collection document that increasing levels of corn stover harvest leads to increased soil erosion with no other change in management practice (Lindstrom, 1986; Pratt et al., 2014). Soil organic carbon refers to carbon held by the soil, where the stock of soil carbon is a determinant of soil health and future productivity (Lal, 2014).
Corn stover treated with a lime slurry has the potential to reduce feed costs for finishing feedlot cattle. Feed rations including lime-treated corn stover were profitable compared with the control rations for all scenarios investigated. The average annual increase in returns per feedlot space on a beef cattle feedlot operation when lime-treated corn stover was included in the rations of finishing cattle was $40.82 per feedlot space, with a range of increased returns of $7 to $90 per feedlot space depending on feed price assumptions. The range of corn prices tested was $118.10 to $196.84/Mg, and the range of corn stover prices tested was $38.58 to $60.63/dry Mg. Environmental impacts studied were soil erosion, changes in soil organic carbon, and nitrate leaching. Data from the Landscape Environmental Assessment Framework were used to quantify the environmental impacts resulting from the ration substitutions. Incorporation of environmental values with the economic results affects social values and can lead to negative social outcomes in some cases. Detrimental environmental impacts increase as the level of corn stover harvest increases, and the incorporation of environmental values to the on-farm economic values of the feed substitutions can affect the social outcome of the feed substitution.

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Effects of residue harvesting on water runoff, soil erosion and nutrient loss

Abstract

Tillage and plant residue management for water erosion control on agricultural land in eastern Oregon

J. Soil Water Conserv,

Long-term annual runoff and soil loss from conventioanl and sonsevation tillage of corn

J. Soil Water Conserv.

Crop residue requirements for water erosion control in six southern states

J. Soil Water Conserv.

Conversion of the universal soil loss equation to SI metric units

J. Soil Water Conserv.

Predicting the effects ot tillage and crop residue management on soil erosion

J. Soil Water Conserv.

Crop residue, siol erosion, and plant nutrient relationships

J. Soil Water Conserv.