Changes in soil penetration resistance and yields of winter rapeseed, winter wheat and spring barley cultivated in the 3-year rotation system under the influence of soil compaction and four tillage methods were evaluated in a field experiment conducted in 2009-2012. During the stage of full emergence of winter rapeseed, at the depth of 0-10 and 10-20 cm (lots without compaction) after U-2 cultivation (subsoiler 40 cm, disk cultivator, harrowing, cultivating, sowing ploughing 20 cm), the resistance of the soil decreased significantly as compared to the plough cultivation (control lot). At the level of 20-30 cm, after conventional cultivation, significantly lower compaction of the soil was found compared to the other cultivation variants. On the compacted lots, the opposite situation was found. During the full blossom stage, in the lots without compaction, tillage increased the soil compaction significantly within the studied soil levels, compared to the reduced tillage variants. On the other hand, at the depth of 20-30 cm (lots with compaction), regardless of the reduced tillage variant, significantly higher compaction of the soil, as compared to the plough cultivation, was recorded. After rapeseed harvest, at the depth of 10 cm (lots without compaction), after U-2 cultivation, almost 2-fold increase in the value of the analysed characteristic was recorded as compared to the plough cultivation. During the wheat stem elongation stage, on the lots without and with compaction, the highest soil compaction was found at the depth of 20-30 cm after U-3 cultivation. In the lots without compacting, during the heading, the application of the ripper (U-2 cultivation) significantly decreased the compaction of soil down to 10 cm. In the 20-30 cm layer (lots with compaction), soil resistance increased, assuming the highest values after subsoiler and single ploughing. After the harvest of crops from the lots without compaction, an increase of soil compaction, as compared to the plough cultivation, was recorded after U-2 cultivation at the depth of up to 10 cm and in the 10-20 cm layer after the application of subsoiler and single ploughing. The degree of compaction and the method of soil cultivation diversified significantly the yields of the analysed cereal. Following spring barley harvest, in the lots without compaction, significantly higher soil resistance was found after applying full plough cultivation compared to the lots with compaction (depth 10-20 cm). Similar outcomes were obtained at the levels of 0-10 and 10-20 cm after U-2 cultivation (skimming, cultivator, harrow + pre-winter tillage to 25 cm) and at the depth of 20-30 cm after the application of the cultivator and performance of pre-winter tillage to the depth of 25 cm (U-3 cultivation). On the compacted lots, as compared to the lots that were not compacted, a significantly higher yield of winter rapeseed was obtained following U-3 cultivation. Post-harvest cultivation using the subsoiler and pre-sowing cultivation by single ploughing decreased the winter wheat yield the most as compared to the traditional cultivation. The yield of grain from lots with soil compaction, compared to lots without compaction, was significantly higher. In the case of lots with compaction, the application of skimming, cultivator treatment and harrowing of the field after harvest of the forecrop and performance of pre-winter tillage to the depth of 25 cm (U-2 cultivation) increased spring barley yield significantly compared to the conventional cultivation.