Data from: Soil health benefits of compost persist two decades after single application to winter wheat

Long-term published dataset containing observations on soil health and yield following a one-time compost application in a dryland wheat fallow system. The effectiveness of frequent compost application in improving soil health is well-documented. Less is known on the long-term effects of infrequent compost application to semiarid soils. Compost made of dairy manure and straw bedding was applied once in a dryland organic hard red winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L. emend. Thell.)–fallow system at 50 megagrams per hectare (Mg ha−1) dry weight in 1994 in a randomized complete block design with three replicates. Twenty-eight years later, yields in composted plots (1.4 Mg ha−1) remained higher (p