The benefits of no‐till to crop yield depend on environment and crop sequence; thus, understanding their interactions is a long‐term process. This 44‐year field experiment examined grain yield, yield stability, and adaptability of continuous winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) (Ct‐WT), continuous soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merrill] (Ct‐SY), continuous grain sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] (Ct‐GS), soybean–winter wheat rotation (SY‐WT), and soybean‐grain sorghum rotation (SY‐GS) under three tillage systems (NT, no‐tillage; RT, reduced tillage; CT, conventional tillage) near Ashland Bottoms, KS. The temporal variation across the studied years allowed us to evaluate treatments under low‐ and high‐yielding environments. Crop rotation consistently outyielded continuous cropping, and the advantage was enhanced when integrated with NT. Yield stability decreased under NT continuous cropping in most systems. Wheat was adaptable to low‐ and high‐yielding environments with similar grain yield and yield stability among treatments, except for NT Ct‐WT, which had the lowest yield stability and grain yield (2.5 vs. 3.5 Mg ha−1). Soybean grain yield was greater under rotation than Ct‐SY (2.7 vs. 2.0 Mg ha−1) and under NT than RT and CT (2.6 vs. 2.4 Mg ha−1), with similar yield stability. Soybean grown after wheat was more adaptable to low‐yielding environments and grown after sorghum to high‐yielding environments. Sorghum in NT SY‐GS was adaptable to low‐ and high‐yielding environments and had the greatest yield (6.2 Mg ha−1) and yield stability. This long‐term study demonstrated the advantages of crop rotation combined with NT on grain yield, yield stability, and crop adaptability.
Tall wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) stubble can enhance soil water conservation during the fallow-period by trapping snow and decreasing evaporation. However, standing wheat stubble can intercept herbicide spray droplets before they reach their intended targets. This experiment aimed to evaluate the effects of three wheat stubble heights (>70 cm, 35 cm, and no-stubble), four nozzle types (XR, TTJ, AIXR, and TTI), and three application directions (angular (45°), perpendicular (90°), and parallel (0°) to the wheat row) on a spray deposition of glyphosate and a dicamba tank mixture. The ranking of droplet size from smallest to largest based on volume median diameter (VMD) was XR, TTJ, AIXR, and TTI. Wheat stubble greater than 70 cm decreased spray deposition 37%, while 35 cm stubble caused a 23% decrease. Sprayer application directions and nozzle type had significant interaction on spray deposition. Perpendicular application direction decreased spray deposition relative to the angular application direction for TTJ and TTI. Parallel application direction had lower spray deposition than angular application direction for TTJ and XR. Similarly, relatively-high-spray deposition (~75%) was provided by angular application direction regardless of the nozzle type. Applicators should consider traveling in an angular direction to the wheat rows for improved droplet deposition across spray nozzle types.