Effects of Farm Type and Different Intensities of Soil Tillage on Cash Crop Yields and Soil Organic Matter

Summary

An organic long-term field experiment has been carried out at the experimental station Gladbacherhof (Giessen University, Germany) since 1998 to survey the performance of agronomical, economical and ecological indicators dependant on farm type and tillage intensity. This article presents results on cash crop yields and changes in humus contents in the first two rotations of the experiment. It can be concluded that organic stockless farming without ley affects cash crop yields and demands special attention with regard to a sustainable humus management. Stockless farming with rotational ley on the other hand up to now showed a satisfactory performance when compared to a mixed farm type with livestock. As for the yields, reduced tillage systems could cope with the regularly ploughed reference system if at least a shallow turning of the soil was carried out. An increase of humus contents was not induced by reduced tillage systems.