OMAFRA Field Crop Report – September 10, 2020

Figure 4. Topsoil moved from a valley to a knoll (photo: Calvin Horst)

Managing Eroded Knolls

We’ve all seen them. Hilltops. Whitecaps. High spots where the crop struggles year after year. Eroded knolls are common to Ontario agriculture and cost farmers in lost productivity each season. This article is to explore knolls: how they’ve formed, how they differ, and how they can be managed or even re-mediated.

How do knolls develop?

The major cause of eroded knolls is tillage erosion. In many cases tillage has re-distributed soil from high to low slope positions with the help of gravity over decades. Once soil is moved partially down-slope by tillage, it becomes vulnerable to surface runoff and can be moved further downhill. Wind can also remove material from the tops of knolls.

Knolls and crop productivity

Why do crops grow so poorly on eroded knolls? When topsoil is lost, so is the organic matter, which helps hold water and nutrients. The subsoil or parent material that the soil has formed from is low in nutrients, provides a poor seedbed and may drain water rapidly, and can have a low or high pH. Low or high pH can reduce plant-availability of nutrients. The optimum soil pH range for most crops is 6.0–7.5. The pH scale range is 0 to 14 with 7 being neutral, below 7 being increasingly acidic and above 7 increasingly basic.

Are all knolls alike?

Although the processes that contribute to eroded knolls are similar from field to field, the type of knolls that result aren’t always the same.

The most common scenario for southern Ontario is a high pH eroded knoll. This occurs when the soil’s subsoil has a high carbonate content due to free lime (calcium carbonate). Sandy soils, on the other hand, have a poor ability to buffer against acidity from the environment. On sandy soils, low pH knolls can develop.

A high pH knoll example – Wellington County

This field near Rockwood, Ontario, has several high pH knolls. As you can see, the 2020 soybean crop was suffering earlier this season due to poor water and nutrient availability on the knolls (Figure 1).

ONTARIO FIELD CROP REPORT_September_10_2020_f1
Figure 1. Stunted, discoloured soybeans growing on a knoll in late July 2020

The agronomist responsible for this field shared his strategy, which included seeding soybeans thicker on knolls, to help fill out the stand, and thinner in valleys, to reduce disease pressure in high-yield zones. Variable tillage – tilling valleys but not knolls – is another site-specific strategy used by these growers.

A low pH knoll example – Kent County

At this corn field north of Ridgetown, a farmer has struggled with poor crop establishment on knolls for several years. In 2020, the corn stand was very poor (Figure 2). There were questions as to why – soil pests? Nematodes? Fertilizer injury? After digging up plants, most seeds appeared to have germinated, but many failed to emerge, and seedlings were off-colour with poor vigour. While the odd wireworm was found, most seedlings failing to emerge did not show obvious feeding damage.

Figure 2. Poor corn stands on sandy knoll
Figure 2. Poor corn stands on sandy knoll

With no obvious symptoms to explain stand loss, soil samples were collected from the poor establishment area on the knoll and from areas off the knoll where the corn stand was healthy. Two major differences jumped out on the knoll – much lower pH and magnesium (Table 1).

Table 1. pH and magnesium soil test levels on-knoll compared to off-knoll.

  On Knoll

(poor stand)

Off Knoll

(healthy stand)

Critical Value
pH 4.9 6.9 5.6*
Magnesium (ppm) 15 112 20

* critical value for coarse and medium textured soils for corn

Soil acidity changes the availability of elements and nutrients in the soil – aluminum toxicity can develop and impair root growth, while plant nutrients become less available.  As the season progressed, corn plants on the knoll remained severely stunted and magnesium deficiency symptoms developed (Figure 3).

Figure 3. Magnesium deficiency in corn on the sandy knoll, July 2020
Figure 3. Magnesium deficiency in corn on the sandy knoll, July 2020

Soil sampling eroded knolls separately from the rest of the field is the best way to determine whether you are dealing with low or high pH. In this example, applying magnesium-containing (dolomitic) lime to the low-pH eroded knoll is warranted.

Remediating eroded knolls

Some Ontario farmers have moved a step beyond simply managing in-field variability and are remediating eroded knolls on their farms. This grower near New Hamburg, for example, used an earth mover after wheat harvest in 2019 to scrape soil from valleys and place it on knolls (Figure 4).

Figure 4. Topsoil moved from a valley to a knoll (photo: Calvin Horst)
Figure 4. Topsoil moved from a valley to a knoll (photo: Calvin Horst)

At least 6 inches of topsoil should be left in the valleys and 4 inches or more of topsoil added to the knolls. Once the soil is moved, it’s critical that practices are adopted to ensure it does not move back down-slope (e.g. no-till or minimum till, cover cropping and a diverse crop rotation). Ontario research, although limited, has found that this practice can improve crop productivity on knolls without affecting yield in the valleys.

Putting it together

  • Eroded knolls are common in Ontario and have been caused by tillage erosion, in combination with water and wind erosion, over decades
  • High pH eroded knolls are more common, but acidic knolls also exist and pose unique challenges
  • Management strategies for eroded knolls include variable rate seeding and variable tillage, as well as lime application for low pH situations. Longer-term remediation approaches have also shown promise.

Visit www.fieldcropnews.com this fall to read the full, two-part version of this article and watch videos that profile the high pH and low pH knoll case studies.

Weather Summary

Weekly Weather Summary August 31-September 6

Location Date Temperature Rainfall Totals
Aug. 31 Sept.-6 Max Min (mm) Rain GDD0 GDD5 CHU
  °C °C 01-Apr 01-Apr 01-Apr 01-May
Harrow 2019 28 9 2 311 2568 1836 2814
2020 27 7 5 345 2457 1729 2650
Ridgetown 2019 27 7 52 390 2387 1667 2557
2020 28 6 10 220 2429 1706 2549
London 2019 27 6 3 275 2455 1734 2677
2020 27 4 30 312 2237 1526 2383
Brantford 2019 26 5 15 412 2215 1515 2400
2020 26 6 13 289 2271 1570 2457
Welland 2019 27 5 21 242 2282 1559 2393
2020 26 8 11 296 2395 1666 2615
Elora 2019 27 8 9 353 2438 1697 2592
2020 24 5 28 352 2078 1393 2230
Mount Forest 2019 24 3 38 455 2103 1412 2276
2020 21 5 61 280 1961 1269 2056
Uxbridge 2019 22 0 28 324 2099 1389 2221
2020 28 9 2 311 2568 1836 2814
Peterborough 2019 27 7 5 345 2457 1729 2650
2020 27 7 52 390 2387 1667 2557
Trenton 2019 28 6 10 220 2429 1706 2549
2020 27 6 3 275 2455 1734 2677
Kemptville 2019 27 4 30 312 2237 1526 2383
2020 26 5 15 412 2215 1515 2400
Earlton 2019 26 6 13 289 2271 1570 2457
2020 27 5 21 242 2282 1559 2393
Sudbury 2019 26 8 11 296 2395 1666 2615
2020 27 8 9 353 2438 1697 2592
Thunder Bay 2019 24 5 28 352 2078 1393 2230
2020 24 3 38 455 2103 1412 2276
Fort Francis 2019 21 5 61 280 1961 1269 2056
2020 22 0 28 324 2099 1389 2221
This table developed by OMAFRA using data from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and Environment Canada. Max and Min Temps show the extremes that occurred for the 7-day period.