Further adoption of conservation tillage can increase maize yields in the western US Corn Belt
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: Conservation tillage can reduce soil erosion, increase soil health, and decrease labor and fuel input costs. Despite these benefits, potential yield impacts remain an important concern for farmers considering adoption. Previous research suggests that conservation tillage is likely to have the largest yield benefits in more arid conditions, but a lack of field-level analyses across climatic, management and soil conditions limits confidence in such predictions. Satellite imagery provides the opportunity to monitor agricultural lands at sub-field resolution across large spatial scales and wide environmental gradients. Here we investigate the maize yield impacts of conservation tillage in the semi-arid western US Corn Belt, using sub-field resolution datasets on tillage practices and crop yields derived from satellite data spanning four states (Nebraska, Kansas, South Dakota, and North Dakota) between 2008 and 2020. On these datasets, we estimate heterogenous yield outcomes for several thousand maize fields across gradients in climate, soil quality and irrigation status by using a causal forests analysis, an adaptation of the random forests machine-learning algorithm for causal inference on observational data. We find that long-term adoption of conservation tillage increased rainfed maize yields by an average of 9.9% in the region. Impacts on irrigated yields were small and not statistically significant. These results, along with an analysis of variables related to greater than average yield benefits, indicate that improved water infiltration and retention are the primary reasons for conservation tillage benefits. Despite yield benefits, many fields estimated to see increased yields under long term low till have not adopted the practice. Therefore, we identify specific counties likely to benefit most from increased levels of adoption. Our results strengthen the understanding of the impacts of conservation agriculture on crop yields and help define environments and counties most likely to benefit from conservation tillage.
Source: Environmental Research Letters
Authors: Trevor W Cambron, Jillian M Deines, Bruno Lopez, Rinkal Patel, Sang-Zi Liang, David B Lobell
Language: English
Subfield: Soil Science
Domain: Life Sciences
SDGs: Life on land, Zero hunger
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,820
Awards: G1230825752, WE ARE REQUESTING A $15 000 CONTRIBUTION FROM NASA TO SUPPORT TRAVEL FOR 30 UNDERGRADUATE OR GRADUATE STUDENTS TO ATTEND THE 2017 AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR AEROSOL RESEARCH (AAAR) ANNUAL CONFERENCE FROM OCTOBER 16TH-20TH. STUDENTS WHO ARE AN AUTHOR OR CO- AUTHOR ON AN ACCEPTED SCIENTIFIC ABSTRACT WOULD APPLY FOR THE GRANT THROUGH THE CONFERENCE WEBSITE AND THE NUMBER OF SELECTIONS WOULD BE BASED ON THE NUMBER OF APPLICANTS AND THE AMOUNT OF FUNDS AVAILABLE. IF THE NUMBER OF APPLICANTS EXCEEDS THE FUNDS AVAILABLE SELECTIONS WILL BE BASED ON 1) THE QUALITY OF THE STUDENT 2) THE IMPACT OF THE STUDENT'S RESEARCH AND 3) ESTABLISHING A DIVERSITY OF STUDENT BACKGROUNDS AT THE MEETING. THE 2017 AAAR ANNUAL CONFERENCE DIRECTLY RELATES TO NASA'S EARTH SCIENCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES THROUGH IMPROVING OUR UNDERSTANDING OF AEROSOLS AND HOW THEY RELATE TO AIR QUALITY AND CLIMATE. SINCE 1982 THIS CONFERENCE HAS PROVIDED A FORUM FOR SHARING AND DISCUSSING CUTTING EDGE RESEARCH ACROSS A VARIETY OF AEROSOL-RELATED DISCIPLINES. THROUGH THE PROPOSED GRANT TO SUBSIDIZE STUDENT PARTICIPATION NASA WILL BENEFIT THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY BY HELPING TO GIVE THE NEXT GENERATION OF AEROSOL SCIENTISTS THE OPPORTUNITY TO INTERACT WITH THESE CUTTING-EDGE SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS AS WELL AS TO PRESENT THEIR OWN IDEAS., G2359565706, G2986991736
OpenAlex ID: W4395663510