ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews research that has been conducted to assess tillage requirements for the predominant annual crops in eastern Canada. It focuses on tillage systems for corn, small grains, and soybean in southern Ontario and Prince Edward Island. The agricultural producing region of southern Ontario has a continental-type climate that is modified by the Great Lakes. Initial strip-tillage experiments investigated the width and depth of tillage necessary to eliminate the yield reductions associated with no-tillage systems when corn followed corn in a rotation. Research on ridge-till planting systems has been limited to the poorly drained clay loam soils of southern Ontario. Initial studies with no-till planting corn into spring-killed red clover resulted in yield reductions that were occasionally as high as 50% when compared to either autumn chisel plow or autumn moldboard plow tillage systems. Ridge planting is often suggested as an alternative to no-till on poorly drained fine-textured soils.
