05/21/2023
Wow. just... Wow. This is a keeper!
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"These samples are the same soil type and have been in a corn-bean rotation for the past 20+ years, however, their treatment has been substantially different. The soil on the left has not been tilled or had anhydrous ammonia applied for over 20 years and has had a cereal rye cover crop grown after harvest for the last 5 years. The soil on the right has been tilled each year, as well as had anhydrous ammonia applied in the fall. This picture was taken about 2 minutes after the samples were submerged in water. The tilled soil essentially “exploded” as soon as it entered the water. Repeated tillage has destroyed the structure of the soil, eliminating pore space and destroying the biological “glue” that helps hold the soil together, and as a result, the soil has collapsed. In contrast, due to minimal soil disturbance, the tillage-free soil has excellent pore space and extensive biological activity, and as a result, has provided the soil with a healthy structure that can withstand the impacts of water.
Within 5 minutes the tilled soil was completely gone, whereas the tillage-free soil remained almost entirely intact. We decided to see how long it could last and kept adding water to it (to keep up with evaporation) over several weeks. We gave up after 6 weeks, in which the tillage-free soil sample was still about 95% intact."
Experiment and post by Jasper County, Iowa, Soil and Water Conservation District.