The Fuchsenbigl Case Study

The Fuchsenbigl Field Station is an agricultural long-term research infrastructure located in Austria. Current research objectives are the investigation of soils (e.g. soil organic matter and nutrient dynamics) and crops affected by different soil management (e.g. tillage, mineral and organic fertilization). Cultivated crops include cereals (e.g. winter wheat, barley, rye), sugar beet, maize and potatoes.

Objectives

• Assessment of the effects of different tillage intensities / practices
• Assessment of the effects of crop residue management plus phosphorous (P) fertilization

Local focus

• Long-term tillage field experiment established in 1988, with a randomised block design with three replicates (plot size 720m 2), that investigates the following tillage treatments:
  • Conventional tillage (CT): regular mouldboard ploughing to 25-30 cm soil depth in autumn
  • Reduced tillage (RT): soil treatment with cultivator to a depth of 15-20 cm in autumn
  • Minimum tillage (MT): soil treatment with rotary-driller to a depth of 5-8 cm

• Long-term crop residue incorporation field experiment established 1982, with a randomized block design with four replicates (plot size 192m 2), that investigates the following crop residue management treatments in four P-fertilization stages (0, 33, 66, and 131 kg P ha -1 y -1 ):
  • Crop residue incorporation
  • Crop residue removal

Data collected at the site

• Chemical soil data: pH, soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (Nt), cation exchange capacity (CEC), carbonate content, plant available nutrients phosphorous and potassium (P, K)
• Physical soil data: texture, bulk density, aggregate stability, water capacity, pore volume, water permeability
• Biological soil data: substrate induced respiration, potential nitrogen mineralization
• Crop data: yields, nutrient contents