Stubble‐Mulch Tillage in New York

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to report on progress made in adapting stubble‐mulch tillage for use under the cool, humid conditions of New York State. Comparisons of stubble‐mulch plowing and disking with turn plowing over a period of 7 years in New York State have been presented and discussed. Over most of the period, and for all crops studied except hay, both kinds of stubble‐mulch tillage resulted in significantly lower yields than those resulting from turn plowing. During the last year of the comparison, however, an improved technique of stubble‐mulch plowing using an improvised plow operating on the tandem and double‐cut principle gave results fully as satisfactory as turn plowing. Soil penetrometer and moisture data showed that the new stubble‐mulch plowing technique produced a seedbed as loose as that obtained by turn plowing and also resulted in moisture conservation through concentration of crop residues on the surface. At the same time, there were indications that disking resulted in a seedbed more difficult to penetrate with the penetrometer and also one from which moisture was used inefficiently for crop production and lost by excessive evaporation regardless of the presence of a residue mulch.