Row-placed fertilizer for maize grown with an in-row crop residue management system in southern Wisconsin

Re®nements of high residue cropping practices are needed to provide crop producers viable systems that are both economically and environmentally sound. Several tillage treatments in combination with row-placed fertilizer were evaluated in a 3 year study on maize (Zea mays L.) on a Luvic Phaeozem in southern Wisconsin, USA. Tillage treatments included fall chisel, fall and spring in-row residue management (I-RRM) using planter mounted ®nger coulters, and no-till. Row fertilizer treatments consisting of none, fall surface strip, fall subsurface band, and subsurface band at planting were superimposed over tillage treatments. Early season in-row soil temperatures in the fall I-RRM treatment were usually similar to those found in the chisel system and were typically 3±58 warmer than those under no-till. The gravimetric water content of the no-till treatment was 20±40 g kgÿ1 higher than those of the chisel and fall I-RRM, which were usually similar. In-row residue management resulted in residue levels of about 30±50% in the row and 80±90% in the inter-row. Residue in chisel and no-till were relatively uniform across the row, averaging 26 and 89%, respectively. Early season crop growth and silking progress were signi®cantly delayed in no-till and were only slightly reduced in the I-RRM treatments when compared to chisel. Grain yield averaged over 3 years was not signi®cantly affected by tillage treatment; however, fall I-RRM was 0.4 Mg haÿ1 higher than spring I-RRM in the ®rst year. Row fertilizer at planting increased in early mass and silking progressed 50% in the second year. When averaged over 3 years, row fertilizer reduced grain water content 10 g kgÿ1 and increased yield 0.5 Mg haÿ1 when compared to the control. A signi®cant interactive effect showed a positive grain yield response to row fertilizer in all tillage treatments except chisel. This research demonstrates that I-RRM, in combination with row fertilizer, offers a high residue alternative to full-width tillage in regions with limited growing season. # 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.