A land grouping system for cultivation and sowing requirements for winter barley: Evaluation and modification of recommendations

Abstract

AbstractResults are presented which allow further development of a recently proposed grouping of land according to its minimum cultivation requirement for winter barley. The minimum cultivations required are: Group 1, direct drilling (no cultivation); Group 2, shallow ploughing or shallow cultivation to 50–150 mm depth and Group 3, mouldboard ploughing to >150 mm depth. Soil, climate and yield data are presented from field experiments on soils in each group located in the south east of Scotland. Results from short‐term experiments support the grouping. Long‐term average yields were similar among cultivation‐sowing systems when compaction was minimised and when weather at sowing was suitable. This effect was associated with an improvement in structure of Group 3 soils under zero and reduced cultivation systems. A reduced‐tillage broadcasting system allows more favourable localisation and timing of sowing traffic than drilling so that cultivation requirements may be reduced.