No-Till Yield Data Analysis - Dr. Steve Culman, OSU Soil Fertility Extension Specialist, from the 2020 Conservation Tillage and Technology Conference, held March 3-4, 2020, Ada, OH, USA.

1. No-Till Yield Data Analysis
(1962 – 2018)
(56-57 years!)

2. Key Questions
• Which treatments yielded best across all years?
• Which rotation?
• Which tillage?
• Which treatments are bringing the most yield benefits over time?
(aka: What is the rate of change in yields by treatments?)

3. Northwest Corn

4. Continuous Corn Corn-Soybean Corn-Forage-Forage
MoldboardPlowConventionalTillageNo-Till
1960
1980
2000
2020
1960
1980
2000
2020
1960
1980
2000
2020
50
100
150
200
250
50
100
150
200
250
50
100
150
200
250
Year
NWCornYield(bu/acre)

5. Continuous Corn Corn-Soybean Corn-Forage-Forage
MoldboardPlowConventionalTillageNo-Till
1960
1980
2000
2020
1960
1980
2000
2020
1960
1980
2000
2020
50
100
150
200
250
50
100
150
200
250
50
100
150
200
250
Year
NWCornYield(bu/acre)

6. Continuous Corn Corn-Soybean Corn-Forage-Forage
1980
2000
2020
1980
2000
2020
1980
2000
2020
100
125
150
175
Year
NWCornYield(bu/acre)
Tillage
Moldboard Plow
Conventional Tillage
No-Till
0.6 bu/yr
0.5 bu/yr
1.2 bu/yr
0.2 bu/yr
0.6 bu/yr
1.3 bu/yr
0.9 bu/yr
0.9 bu/yr
1.4 bu/yr

7. Wooster Corn

8. Continuous Corn Corn-Soybean Corn-Forage-Forage
MoldboardPlowConventionalTillageNo-Till
1960
1980
2000
2020
1960
1980
2000
2020
1960
1980
2000
2020
0
100
200
0
100
200
0
100
200
Year
WoosterCornYield(bu/acre)

9. Continuous Corn Corn-Soybean Corn-Forage-Forage
MoldboardPlowConventionalTillageNo-Till
1960
1980
2000
2020
1960
1980
2000
2020
1960
1980
2000
2020
0
100
200
0
100
200
0
100
200
Year
WoosterCornYield(bu/acre)

10. Continuous Corn Corn-Soybean Corn-Forage-Forage
1960
1980
2000
2020
1960
1980
2000
2020
1960
1980
2000
2020
90
120
150
180
210
Year
WoosterCornYield(bu/acre)
Tillage
Moldboard Plow
Conventional Tillage
No-Till
1.5 bu/yr
1.3 bu/yr 1.6 bu/yr
0.2 bu/yr
0.6 bu/yr
1.3 bu/yr
0.9 bu/yr
1.3 bu/yr
1.6 bu/yr

11. Continuous Corn Corn-Soybean Corn-Forage-Forage
1960
1980
2000
2020
1960
1980
2000
2020
1960
1980
2000
2020
90
120
150
180
210
Year
WoosterCornYield(bu/acre)
Tillage
Moldboard Plow
Conventional Tillage
No-Till
Continuous Corn Corn-Soybean Corn-Forage-Forage
1980
2000
2020
1980
2000
2020
1980
2000
2020
100
125
150
175
Year
NWCornYield(bu/acre)
Tillage
Moldboard Plow
Conventional Tillage
No-Till
• Increasing rotation
generally increased
yields
• Plow had lowest rate of
yield gains; No-Till had
highest rate yields most
rotations

12. Northwest Soybean

13. Moldboard Plow Conventional Tillage No-Till
1960
1980
2000
2020
1960
1980
2000
2020
1960
1980
2000
2020
20
40
60
80
Year
NWSoybeanYield(bu/acre)

14. Moldboard Plow Conventional Tillage No-Till
1960
1980
2000
2020
1960
1980
2000
2020
1960
1980
2000
2020
20
40
60
80
Year
NWSoybeanYield(bu/acre)

15. Corn-Soybean
1980
2000
2020
30
40
50
60
Year
NWSoybeanYield(bu/acre)
Tillage
Moldboard Plow
Conventional Tillage
No-Till
0.27 bu/yr
0.37 bu/yr
0.59 bu/yr

16. Wooster Soybean

17. Moldboard Plow Conventional Tillage No-Till
1960
1980
2000
2020
1960
1980
2000
2020
1960
1980
2000
2020
20
40
60
Year
WoosterSoybeanYield(bu/acre)

18. Moldboard Plow Conventional Tillage No-Till
1960
1980
2000
2020
1960
1980
2000
2020
1960
1980
2000
2020
20
40
60
Year
WoosterSoybeanYield(bu/acre)

19. Corn-Soybean
1980
2000
2020
30
40
50
Year
WoosterSoybeanYield(bu/acre)
Tillage
Moldboard Plow
Conventional Tillage
No-Till
0.39 bu/yr
0.49 bu/yr
0.40 bu/yr

20. Corn-Soybean
1980
2000
2020
30
40
50
60
Year
NWSoybeanYield(bu/acre)
Tillage
Moldboard Plow
Conventional Tillage
No-Till
Corn-Soybean
1980
2000
2020
30
40
50
Year
WoosterSoybeanYield(bu/acre)
Tillage
Moldboard Plow
Conventional Tillage
No-Till
• Early years: NT yielded
low in NW, high in
Wooster
• Recent years: NT yield
high in NW, similar to
chisel till in Wooster
•

21. Site Tillage Corn
(bu/ac)
Soybean
(bu/ac)
Forage
(ton/ac)
Northwest MP 140.5 43.6 2.5
CT 141.1 46.9 2.7
NT 139.6 44.8 2.6
Wooster MP 137.7 34.9 3.7
CT 144.7 37.0 3.7
NT 152.8 40.5 3.5
Yields by Tillage over all years

22. Other Key Questions
• How does tillage and rotation influence yields in wet/ dry years?
• Which system is more profitable?
• Why are yields and soils are ‘better’ with perennials and no-till?