Crop response, soil loss and runoff results from a long term tillage study at North Carolina A&T State University

Southeastern Piedmont soils are responsive to tillage with respect to soil erosion and crop growth because of the type of topography and their soil physical nature. A tillage study at North Carolina A&T State University is evaluating the long-term effects of tillage and wheel-traffic compaction in no-till on soil physical properties, crop growth, runoff, and losses of soil nutrients and pesticides. Treatments are conventional tillage, strip tillage, no tillage with traffic control and no tillage with a fully trafficked surface. This paper summarizes the crop growth, runoff and soil loss results obtained since the treatments were first implemented in 1995.