ABSTRACT

Crop rotations have been practiced for hundreds of years around the world with modern rotations established as early as 1730 in England. This early rotation, termed the Norfolk Four-Course Rotation, included turnips, barley, clover, and wheat. Crop rotations continue, in some form, into the 21^st century and will continue into the future. Several factors control the use of rotations with the producer's desire to get the highest returns from the inputs for the effort he puts into it as the leading factor. Fertility of the soil, tilth, drainage, reaction (pH), slope, temperature, rainfall, weeds, diseases, and insect pests determine certain limitations to the kinds and proportions of crops to be grown. Within these limits, the relative prices for the products produced, labor distribution through the season, and the prices of materials and labor used in production, determine more definitely the acreage to be grown in a certain crop.