Adding clay to sand yields a higher corn yield

At one research plot, two types of clay were applied in a 5-centimeter layer on the maize land at the beginning of 2019 and subsequently mixed into the sand through harrowing, subsoiling, and ploughing during the growing seasons. On a second plot, a thin layer of 1.7 centimeters of clay was spread over the grassland with a manure spreader in the winters of 2018/2019, 2019/2020, and 2020/2021. The experimental fields received three treatments and four repetitions. Over the past seven years, silage maize yields have been measured on both plots. The plots are in a crop rotation with three years of grass and three years of maize. Clay can be distributed over a plot in various ways. For example, by means of a robust spreader with vertical rollers or by using bulging buckets and distributing them with a crane. Furthermore, clay can be mixed with stable manure, which has the advantage that the clay becomes more rollable and therefore easier to distribute. The costs for ridge plates, ...