Satellites reveal a small positive yield effect from conservation tillage across the US Corn Belt
Conservation tillage is a primary tenet of conservation agriculture aimed at restoring and maintaining soil health for long-term crop productivity. Because soil degradation typically operates on century timescales, farmer adoption is influenced by near-term yield impacts and profitability. Although...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2019-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab503b |
| _version_ | 1797747873953087488 |
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| author | Jillian M Deines Sherrie Wang David B Lobell |
| author_facet | Jillian M Deines Sherrie Wang David B Lobell |
| author_sort | Jillian M Deines |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Conservation tillage is a primary tenet of conservation agriculture aimed at restoring and maintaining soil health for long-term crop productivity. Because soil degradation typically operates on century timescales, farmer adoption is influenced by near-term yield impacts and profitability. Although numerous localized field trials have examined the yield impacts of conservation tillage, their results are mixed and often unrepresentative of real-world conditions. Here, we applied a machine-learning causal inference approach to satellite-derived datasets of tillage practices and crop yields spanning the US Corn Belt from 2005 to 2017 to assess on-the-ground yield impacts at field-level resolution across thousands of fields. We found an average 3.3% and 0.74% yield increase for maize and soybeans, respectively, for fields with long-term conservation tillage. This effect was diminished in fields that only recently converted to conservation tillage. We also found significant variability in these effects, and we identified soil and weather characteristics that mediate the direction and magnitude of yield responses. This work supports soil conservation practices by demonstrating they can be used with minimal and typically positive yield impacts. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:57:49Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8ee5db3742094e5e9918242b5840d9fa |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:57:49Z |
| publishDate | 2019-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-8ee5db3742094e5e9918242b5840d9fa2023-08-09T14:48:26ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262019-01-01141212403810.1088/1748-9326/ab503bSatellites reveal a small positive yield effect from conservation tillage across the US Corn BeltJillian M Deines0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4279-8765Sherrie Wang1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4618-5675David B Lobell2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5969-3476Department of Earth System Science, Center on Food Security and the Environment, Stanford University , United States of AmericaDepartment of Earth System Science, Center on Food Security and the Environment, Stanford University , United States of America; Institute for Computational and Mathematical Engineering, Stanford University , United States of AmericaDepartment of Earth System Science, Center on Food Security and the Environment, Stanford University , United States of AmericaConservation tillage is a primary tenet of conservation agriculture aimed at restoring and maintaining soil health for long-term crop productivity. Because soil degradation typically operates on century timescales, farmer adoption is influenced by near-term yield impacts and profitability. Although numerous localized field trials have examined the yield impacts of conservation tillage, their results are mixed and often unrepresentative of real-world conditions. Here, we applied a machine-learning causal inference approach to satellite-derived datasets of tillage practices and crop yields spanning the US Corn Belt from 2005 to 2017 to assess on-the-ground yield impacts at field-level resolution across thousands of fields. We found an average 3.3% and 0.74% yield increase for maize and soybeans, respectively, for fields with long-term conservation tillage. This effect was diminished in fields that only recently converted to conservation tillage. We also found significant variability in these effects, and we identified soil and weather characteristics that mediate the direction and magnitude of yield responses. This work supports soil conservation practices by demonstrating they can be used with minimal and typically positive yield impacts.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab503btillageconservation agriculturecrop yieldsUS Corn BeltLandsatcausal inference |
| spellingShingle | Jillian M Deines Sherrie Wang David B Lobell Satellites reveal a small positive yield effect from conservation tillage across the US Corn Belt Environmental Research Letters tillage conservation agriculture crop yields US Corn Belt Landsat causal inference |
| title | Satellites reveal a small positive yield effect from conservation tillage across the US Corn Belt |
| title_full | Satellites reveal a small positive yield effect from conservation tillage across the US Corn Belt |
| title_fullStr | Satellites reveal a small positive yield effect from conservation tillage across the US Corn Belt |
| title_full_unstemmed | Satellites reveal a small positive yield effect from conservation tillage across the US Corn Belt |
| title_short | Satellites reveal a small positive yield effect from conservation tillage across the US Corn Belt |
| title_sort | satellites reveal a small positive yield effect from conservation tillage across the us corn belt |
| topic | tillage conservation agriculture crop yields US Corn Belt Landsat causal inference |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab503b |
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