Soil Nutrient Stratification in Long-term Sustainable Cropping Systems Research Study
A tillage by rotation study evaluated after 11 years to determine if the use of no-till had led to nutrient stratification in the plots. The results of this study indicate that nutrients did become stratified, but the effect was minor.
IPNI-2006-CAN-AB23
15 Jan 2007
2006 Annual Interpretive Summary
Stratification of pH and Nutrients in Two Surface Layers of the Three Hills Long-Term Cropping System Plots, 2006
A tillage by rotation study at Three Hills, Alberta, was evaluated after 11 years to determine if the use of no-till had led to nutrient stratification in the plots. The original study involved tilled versus no-till comparisons, and a number of crop rotations. The soil is a Solonetzic Black Chernozem, with a clay-loam texture. The study only evaluated nutrient stratification within the barley/canola/pea/wheat rotation. Soil samples were collected from the 0 to 3 in. and 3 to 6 in. soil depths and analysed for N, P, K, and S.
Soil pH levels trended slightly lower in the no-till plots (0.11 to 0.27 units), but never significantly lower. In the surface 3 in. of soil, no-till tended to increase soil test N, P, K, and S, but never to a significant degree. The largest difference in all nutrients considered occurred for wheat grown on pea stubble. The period of 10 years is considered a time when most of the changes in soils will have occurred in the conversion from conventional tillage to no-till. The results of this study indicate that nutrients did become stratified, but the effect was minor and of no significance to crop production to date. AB-23F