Application of agrochemicals and mechanization enabled increasing agricultural productivity yet caused various environmental soil health-related problems. Agricultural practices affect microorganisms, which are the key players many ecosystem processes. However, less is known about whether this effect differs between time points. Therefore, was sampled in winter (without crop) summer (in presenc...

Extracellular soil enzymes play a key role in organic matter decomposition and nutrient cycling. However, it is not fully understood how these respond to different land use. Long-term research studies were used evaluate diversified management practices affect extracellular driving C cycling [phenol oxidases (PO), peroxidases (PP), α-glucosidase (AG), β-glucosidase (BG), cellobiohydrolase (CB), ...

Tillage and nitrogen (N) fertilization can influence soil organic matter (SOM) dynamics, but their interactive effects remain contradictory. A long-term (25 yr) corn (Zea mays L.)-soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) rotation was used to investigate the effect of tillage [moldboard plow (MP) no-till (NT)] N rates (0, 80, 160 kg N·ha −1 ) on carbon (SOC), total (STN), respiration, SOM fractions [parti...

Proso millet (Panicum miliaceum L.) is well-adapted for the Central Great Plains and could be planted in a winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)-millet-fallow rotation, resulting in two crops in 3 yr. To determine the most suitable tillage system for proso millet production within this rotation, seven tillage management systems were evaluated over a 6-yr period (1972-1977). The research was condu...

The availability of renewable energy does not meet the demands of consumption. Hence, fossil fuels will continue to be an important energy source, and coal promises to cover the requirements for the coming decades. Because of its high energy content, deep lying bituminous coal and anthracite are important for energy generation. One trend in the future of coal mining is thin seam mining, because...

field capacity, fuel consumption and drive wheel slippage in massey ferguson (mf399) tractor with standard and liquid ballasted (630 kg) axle load and at 4wd mode was evaluated and compared. the tests were conducted at the experimental station, college of agriculture, shiraz university, in a field with clay loam soil at average moisture content of 18% d.b. the experiment was of a randomized com...

Fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) were used to `®ngerprint' soil microbial communities that evolved during 25 years of wheat-fallow cropping following native mixed prairie sod at Sidney, Nebraska, USA. Total ester-linked FAMEs (EL-FAMEs) and phospholipid-linked FAMEs (PL-FAMEs) were compared for their ability to discriminate between plots remaining in sod and those cropped to wheat or left fallo...

Snow and ice removal and clearing roadways after a winter storm account for major portion of roadway agencies located in snowy region’s maintenance budget. With the decreasing funds and increasing demand from the motoring public for mobility, roadway agencies are continuously looking for new innovative approaches for winter maintenance operations. One of the main focus of these approaches inclu...

Soil N2O emissions from three corn (Zea mays L.)-soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] systems in central Iowa were measured from the spring of 2003 through February 2005. The three managements systems evaluated were full-width tillage (fall chisel plow, spring disk), no-till, and no-till with a rye (Secale cereale L. 'Rymin') winter cover crop. Four replicate plots of each treatment were establishe...