Using Site-Specific Subsoiling to Minimize Draft and Optimize Corn Yields

Subsoiling is often required to alleviate soil compaction; however, deep tillage can be expensive andtime-consuming. If this tillage operation is conducted deeper than the compacted soil layer, energy is wasted. However, if thistillage operation is conducted shallower than the compacted soil layer, energy is again wasted, and plant roots may beprevented from penetrating the compacted layer. Technologies are now available that allow subsoiling to be conducted at thespecific depth of the compacted layer, which would conserve natural resources without sacrificing crop yields. An experimentwas conducted over four years in a field located in southern Alabama to evaluate whether the concept of site-specificsubsoiling (tilling just deep enough to eliminate the hardpan layer) would reduce tillage draft and energy requirements and/orreduce crop yields. Average corn (Zea mays L.) yields over this four-year period showed that site-specific subsoiling producedyields equivalent to those produced by the uniform deep subsoiling treatment while reducing draft forces, drawbar power, andfuel use.