Crop Rotation

Crop rotation improves the overall efficiency of nitrogen uptake and utilization in the soil. If certain cover crops are planted in the winter, erosion and runoff is prevented when the ground thaws, and nutrients are trapped in the soil and released to the spring crops. There are many reasons why crop rotation is an effective way to make farmlands more productive.

Reasons

  • The yield advantages of crops being rotated has been proven by data to be much higher than that of continuous crops.
  • There is evidence that conservation tillage systems which leave much of the prior crop residues on the soil surface are much better adapted to crop rotations than to that of continuous crops.
  • Rotating crops provides greater yield advantages when using some form of conservation tillage.
  • Residues from sod crops, corn, and soybeans influence certain soil physical properties that, in turn, influence soil drainage and aeration.
  • Rotating crops can reduce the potential for serious insect and disease infestations associated with specific residues. This is especially important if continuous corn or soybeans is produced under conservation tillage, since residues are left on the surface year ''round harbor insects and disease.

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