The increased emphasis on conservation tillage, as a result of the compliance guidelines in the 1985 and 1990 Farm Bills, cause energy utilization to play an important role in the choice of systems for managing soil compaction. Therefore, a study was conducted to determine the effects of traffic and tillage system on the energy required to establish a cotton crop. Treatments for this study were applied annually since 1987 in a wheat-cotton double cropping system. The energy aspects of this study were conducted in 1990 and 1991. Traffic treatments included no traffic (controlled traffic) and a conventional traffic system. Tillage treatments included disking and field cultivation, both with and without subsoiling, and a strip tillage treatment which involved only subsoiling and planting into wheat residue/stubble over the subsoiled slot. Results showed that traffic had no effect on the energy required for crop establishment. Results also showed that tillage treatment had an important effect on the energy required for crop establishment. The strip-tillage system required less energy than all other treatments.