Assessing the performance of crop rotations across two soil textures using a process-based cropping system model

Crop rotations strongly influence yields, nitrogen (N) dynamics and soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks, but their integrated effects are difficult to evaluate as they interact with weather, soil texture, crop choice, and management. Examining the performance across different years for different soils and a range of environmental and production variables can support the identification of crop rotations that optimize trade-offs between the rotations economic performances, N losses and SOC stocks. In this context, the present study uses agroecosystem modeling to assess how different soil textures in Brandenburg, Germany, influence rotations economic performances, SOC relative change and N losses across fifteen crop rotations, while accounting for weather variability. Results indicated that crop rotation performance varies across textures, with the loam soil having the highest economic performance and lowest N loss compared to the sandy soils. The loam soil exhibited a greater increase in SOC than the sandy soil, although it also showed a higher coefficient of variation, indicating greater weather-related variability in SOC change in loamy soil compared with sandy soil. Because rotation performance varies with soil texture, the present system-based study provides a methodology which can be applied to help farmers anticipate trade-offs and test site-specific rotation options before on-farm applications.