Energy performance of conservation tillage management for spring wheat production in the Brown soil zone

There is growing interest in the potential for improving nonrenewable energy use efficiency of traditional agricultural production activities in the Canadian prairies. This study, which was conducted on three soil textures in the Brown soil zone of southwestern Saskatchewan, examined the energy performance of conventional tillage (CT), minimum tillage (MT), and no-tillage (NT) management practices for spring wheat grown in fallow-wheat (F–W) and continuous wheat (Cont W) rotations over a 12-yr period (1982–1993). Metabolizable energy output increased with cropping intensity on a silt loam at Swift Current and on a clay at Stewart Valley (average of 16 751 MJ ha–1 for F–W and 24 110 MJ ha−1 for Cont W), but not on a sandy loam at Cantuar (average 14 828 MJ ha−1) where soil water-holding capacity was limited. Further, because grain yield was rarely significantly influenced by tillage method, the latter had little influence on the overall output of metabolizable energy. Total input of nonrenewable energy per...