Sod-Based Rotations: A Proven Old Practice to Improve Soil Productivity. Soil Quality-Agronomy Technical Note No. 18

摘要

Sod-based rotations are those that alternate sod-forming grasses and legumes with row crops and cereal grains. The grass and/or legumes should break up the row crop cycle for more than 1 year. Farmers in many countries, including France and England, have learned over centuries that grass-based systems are essential for maintaining the long-term productivity of soils (Albrecht, 1938). The most important benefits of sod relate to the accumulation of organic matter facilitated by the extensive root systems of perennial grasses. In fact, the productivity of sod-based virgin soils is typically associated with high levels of organic matter. As American settlers spread west, they cleared trees and sod and cultivated the land. The result of this clearing and plowing was the loss of one of our most valuable resourcessoil organic matter.