Modeling Soil Moisture and Effects of Basin Tillage

ABSTRACT A soil-water model was developed and tested. The model provides satisfactory predictions of soil-water content at various depths for corn at a location in south-west Minnesota. The model was used to study the poten-tial effects of basin tillage on soil moisture levels at two locations, one in Minnesota and another in south central Texas. Results of these projections indicated that basin tillage increases soil moisture and decreases crop stress significantly as compared to conventional tillage by in-creasing infiltration of excess precipitation during the growing season, the off-season or both.