The effect of tire inflation pressure and tillage systems on soil properties, growth and yield of maize and soybean in a silty clay loam soil

Abstract Soil compaction causes adverse effects on soil structure and the performance of crops. There is significant literature supporting the hypothesis that reducing tire inflation pressure can help to minimize compaction, but there is no data on the potential benefits of high flexion tires operating at reduced tire pressures in Midwestern United States agriculture. Hence, a field‐scale study was established in Illinois to determine the potential benefits of high flexion tires at low tire pressure (LTP) in comparison with those operated at standard tire inflation pressure (STP) on soil condition, crop growth and yield of maize and soybean for three tillage systems; deep tillage (450 mm), shallow tillage (100 mm) and no‐till. Two adjacent experiments were established in typical maize/soybean and soybean/maize rotations, respectively. The experiment used a 2 × 3 factorial design with five completely randomized blocks. The results showed that the use of LTP tires resulted in lower soil penetrometer resistance for three tillage systems in 2017 and 2018 in the maize field and 2018 in the soybean field. This improved plant establishment and the number of plants per hectare of maize in both 2016 (* p ≤ .05) and 2018 (** p ≤ .01) and plant establishment (*** p ≤ .001) and the number of plants per hectare (*** p ≤ .001) of soybean in 2018. The penetrometer resistance was higher in the no‐till plots compared to deep and shallow tillage plots in maize and was higher in the deep tillage plots compared to the shallow tillage in the soybean field. The use of LTP tires resulted in an increased grain yield of maize by 4.31% (15.02 Mg ha −1 ) and 2.70% (14.76 Mg ha −1 ) in 2017 (** p ≤ .01) and 2018 (* p ≤ .05), respectively, and soybean by 3.70% (4.25 Mg ha −1 ) in 2018 (* p ≤ .05). The depth of tillage had a significant effect on soybean and maize yields in 2017 (*** p ≤ .001) and 2018 (*** p ≤ .001), respectively, with higher yields of both soybean and maize in the deep and shallow tillage compared to no‐till plots. The study concludes that the use of the LTP systems can be a potential means of addressing soil compaction and maintaining soil porosity while increasing crop productivity in silty clay loam soils in Central Illinois.