Impacts of Cover Crop and Grazing Management Under Integrated Crop Livestock System on Soil Quality.

Poster Presentation at the MANAGING GLOBAL RESOURCES FOR A SECURE FUTURE

2017 Annual Meeting | October 22-25 | Tampa, FL

Section:  Soil Fertility and Plant Nutrition   Impacts of Cover Crop and Grazing Management Under ICL System on Soil Quality

Vishal Seth^a, Shannon Osborne^b, Michael Lehman^b and Sandeep Kumar^a

^aSouth Dakota State University, Department of Agronomy, Horticulture and Plant Science, Brookings, SD,57007, USA.

^bUSDA-ARS, Brookings, SD

Presenter: Vishal Seth ( vishal.seth@sdstate.edu )

Poster Presentation Abstract

ABSTRACT

Under Integrated Crop Livestock (ICL) system the cover crops can improve the soil physical, hydrological and microbial properties leading to improve soil quality. The objective of this study was to explore the short-term impacts of cover crops and grazing on soil quality in South Dakota. The experiment was started in the year 2016 at South Dakota State University research farm in Brookings, South Dakota, USA. The experimental design was Randomized Complete Block Design with 4 replications (n = 4). Cover crops blends (grass leaf cover crop and broad leaf cover crops), grazing, and control treatments were used. The soil samples were taken three times: pre-grazing (August 2016), post-grazing (November 2016), and before planting (June 2017). The soil bulk density did not differ significantly across the cover crop treatments at 0-5 cm depths. However, grazing increased the soil compaction for the 0-5 cm depth. Water retention was not impacted among all the cover crops treatments and control treatments. Post-grazed sample showed high soil microbial biomass carbon (MBC) which means that the number of soil microbes increased after grazing. Soil Urease activity was significantly increased in post-grazed soil only at 0-5 cm depth. Rotation and grazing treatments also impacted the pore size distribution. Soil β-glucosidase enzyme activity was found to be decreased after the grazing.