Also plant nutrients such as nitrogen are lost to the atmosphere. If burning is the only option, practices such as burning in combination with tillage, partial field burns, and season and timing of burn should be considered. Incorporating residue into the soil before burning will retain a portion of the residue. Burning only problem areas within fields can reduce problems while maintaining residue on other parts. Fall burning is more devastating than spring burning because of higher burn temperatures and evaporative water loss from bare fields over winter.
Tillage is the most common residue management technique.
The amount and type of residue and the types of tillage tools available are critical to residue management. Basically, three systems of residue management have evolved around groups of equipment. Deep incorporation of wheat residue lessens the risk of many of the problems associated with residue, but long-term soil benefits are also less. The erosion control benefits of surface and shallow residue are well documented. In addition, surface and shallow incorporated residue affect soil characteristics in the first few inches of soil.