Soil health response to cover cropping and nutrient management in Mid‐Southern US row‐crop production systems

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Soil health is important for agricultural resilience. To determine the impacts of agronomic practices like cover cropping, cover crop species, and nutrient management on soil health indicators, soil samples were collected in 2023 from eight long‐term field trials across Arkansas. Soil organic matter (SOM), carbon dioxide respiration (CDR), beta‐glucosidase (BG) enzyme activity, and permanganate oxidizable carbon (POXC) were measured. Additionally, the comprehensive assessment of soil health (CASH) by Cornell University and the soil health assessment score (SHA) values by Ward Labs were determined. Cover cropping, nutrient management, and/or their interactions significantly affected soil health indicators, but these effects were influenced by differences in site‐specific edaphic and climate factors. While cover crops significantly influenced BG activity under both corn ( Zea mays L.) and soybean [ Glycine max (L.) Merr.], the effect was species‐specific; inclusion of legumes generally boosted BG activity. Across all fertilizer rates, cover crop resulted in 4.6% higher SOM and 11.7% higher POXC concentrations than winter fallow. Moreover, indicators including SOM, CDR, BG, and POXC, though greater under cover crop than winter fallow, did not differ among mono‐ or polyculture in improving soil health and crop yield. The correlation between soil health indicators and cash crop yield was moderate to strong ( r values of −0.35 to 0.70; p < 0.05) in irrigated production systems. Results showed that BG, CDR, and POXC, though not strong predictors of crop yield, could be effective indicators for monitoring soil health in irrigated row crop production systems in the Mid‐Southern United States.