Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 June 2017
We conducted research to determine if soybeans can be grown successfully in a no-till environment, in the semi-arid areas of the central Great Plains near North Platte, NE. Soybeans planted no-till into winter wheat stubble that was sprayed with glyphosate yielded more than when planted into soil that was rototilled in a winter wheat-soybean-fallow rotation. However, grain yield averaged only 420 kg ha-1 during 1975, 1976, and 1977. No-till soybean grown in a winter wheat-grain sorghum-soybean rotation during 1982 through 1985 yielded an average of 1370 kg ha-1. Low yields were associated with lack of precipitation during the fallow period after winter wheat harvest or grain sorghum harvest and during the soybean pod elongation and filling period. Several herbicides gave excellent weed control in soybeans when applied either after wheat harvest, early preplant, or at planting time. None of the herbicides persisted long enough to reduce grain yields of winter wheat planted into the soybean residue. With present production costs these nonirrigated rotations are not economical in the semi-arid region of the central Great Plains of the United States.