Long-Term Tillage Effects on Soil Health.

The impact of tillage on soil health was determined on long-term tillage experiments established in 1962 at the Western Branch Experimental station (South Charleston, Ohio) of the Ohio State University. The experiment, also known as Triplett-Van Doren long-term tillage plots” is one of the longest running no-till experiments in the region. Treatments included moldboard plow tillage (PT), chisel plow tillage (CT), and no-till (NT) under continuous corn system with four replications. Each plot is about 5.0 by 61 m, with Crosby silt loam (fine, mixed, mesic Aeric Ochraqualf) soils. Composite soil samples were collected from 0 to 30 cm depth at 7.5 cm increments, processed and analyzed for several biological, chemical and physical indicators of soil health. The soil samples were analyzed for microbial biomass, biological activity, total, active and particulate organic C and N, pH, bulk density and porosity, and aggregate stability. The physical, chemical and biological soil properties were normalized to calculate soil health indices. The results showed a significant improvement in soil health under NT compared to that under the PT and CT treatments.