Soil strength and crop emergence in direct drilled and ploughed cereal seedbeds in seven field experiments

Cone resistance and vane shear strength were measured in the top 50–100 mm of seven soils. Bulk density and water content were also measured in the same layer by coring. At each site cone resistance and vane shear strength tended to decrease with increasing water content and decreasing bulk density down to 1300 kg m-3, but at lower densities they were not related to bulk density. Cone resistance and vane shear strength tended to decrease with increasing coarseness of texture but also depended on soil structure and organic matter content. Plant populations, mainly spring barley, were reduced in soils with cone resistances and vane shear strengths greater than 2500 kPa and 65 kPa respectively. Such high strengths in undisturbed soils were associated with wheeling during harvesting, were apparently independent of soil type and, at the only site of measurement, apparently decreased during weathering in the subsequent season. In contrast to the cone penetrometer, the vane shear tester has minimal shaft friction in undisturbed soils and is more sensitive to soil differences and less sensitive to water content differences than the penetrometer. It is apparently more suitable for indexing the suitability of undisturbed soils for the penetration of direct drill coulters and for subsequent plant establishment.