Crop residue harvest impacts wind erodibility and simulated soil loss in the Central Great Plains

Authors

Yuxin He, Sichuan University
Deann R. Presley, Kansas State UniversityFollow
John Tatarko, USDA, Agricultural Research Service
Humberto Blanco-Canqui, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

ORCID IDs

0000-0003-1295-3290

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

2018

Citation

GCB Bioenergy (2018) 10, 213–226

Comments

© 2017 The Authors. GCB Bioenergy published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

This is an open access article

doi: 10.1111/gcbb.12483

Abstract

Crop residue removal can affect the susceptibility to soil wind erosion in climates such as those of the Central Great Plains, United States. Six on-farm trials were conducted in Kansas from 2011 to 2013 to determine the effects of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), corn (Zea mays L.), and grain sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench), residue removal at 0, 25, 50, 75, and 100% of initial height on soil wind erosion parameters. Those parameters include soil surface random roughness (RR), and wind erodible fraction (EF; aggregates -¹ for three hours. Threshold wind velocity required to initiate wind erosion generally decreased with increasing crop residue removal height, particularly for >75% removal. Total estimated soil loss over the three-hour event ranged from ≈2 to 25 Mg ha ^-1, depending on EF, GMD, GSD, RR, and percent crop residue cover. Removing 75% residue increased simulated wind erosion at three of six sites while removing 50% appears sustainable at all six study sites. Findings reinforce the need for site-by-site consideration of the potential amount of crop residue that may be harvested while mitigating wind erosion. Study results indicate the value of maintaining residue at >75% of original height.