The effects of subsoiling, in addition to ordinary plowing and disking on crop yields and moisture and organic matter content of the soil

This study was designed to determine the effects of shattering the subsoil below normal plowing depth on the yields of corn, wheat and red clover hay, the moisture content of the soil at critical periods during the growing season and the organic matter content of the subsoil as an evidence of increased root development in the subsoil. The longevity of these effects were also to be determined by repeating the crop rotation on the same plots without re-subsoiling. An evaluation of heavy-duty disking as a substitute for ordinary plowing in the initial preparation of a seedbed for corn was included in this study as a secondary objective.