Data From: Soil Strength After 21 Years Of Conventional And Organic Cropping Practices In The Mid-Atlantic Region, USA

The data in this repository were used to compare soil compaction among the five crop management systems (2 conventional and 3 organic) in the Farming Systems Project at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Beltsville, MD (39.0°N, 76.9°W). Soil compaction is a concern for producers because it negatively impacts crop yields. Differences between organic and conventional cropping systems practices, like organic matter inputs and tillage management, can result in differences in soil compaction. Soil penetrometer measurements (cone index, CI) were collected using a tractor-mounted hydraulic five-probe penetrometer in April 2017 prior to planting corn. Data on soil water content, soil C and soil bulk density were evaluated for relationship to soil compaction. The two conventional systems were 3-yr corn/rye cover crop–soybean/wheat/soybean rotations that used no-tillage (NT) or chisel tillage (CT). The three organic systems had different crop rotation lengths and used tillage of varying intensities and timing for seedbed preparation and weed control. The three organic systems were: 2-yr hairy vetch cover crop–corn/rye cover crop–soybean (Org2); 3-yr hairy vetch cover crop–corn/rye cover crop–soybean/wheat (Org3); and 6-yr corn/rye cover crop–soybean/wheat/alfalfa–alfalfa–alfalfa (Org6). Cropping systems management details, data collection methods, results and interpretations are presented in the associated manuscript. The Word document file “2017 FSP Penetrometer Meta DATA.docx” contains a list of the six data tables deposited with AgData Commons as Excel files. The Excel files contain raw and summarized data used in the manuscript. Tables in the Word document contain variable names and short descriptions/definitions of each variable in the Excel data files.
Organization: Department of Agriculture
Organization URL: https://catalog.data.gov/organization/usda
Last updated: 2026-01-09
Tags: Soil compaction, chisel-tillage, cone index, no-tillage., organic cropping systems, penetrometer, tillage