CROP ROTATIONS TO COMPLEMENT WINTER WHEAT

Transcription

1 CROP ROTATIONS TO COMPLEMENT WINTER WHEAT Kent A McVay Extension Cropping Systems Specialist Southern Ag Research Center Montana State University kmcvay@montana.edu

2 CAN WHEAT FALLOW BE INTENSIFIED? DIVERSIFIED?

3 CROP CHOICES

4 Cool season crops vs warm season crops Oilseed vs grass vs legume Annual vs perennial Grass vs broadleaf Deep rooted crops vs shallow rooted USING DIVERSITY TO YOUR ADVANTAGE

5 PRO S Yield benefit to rotation Lower pest pressure Stabilize income through multiple markets Nitrogen management pulse crops Soil quality Sustainability Con s?

6 B a r le y Y ie ld ( b u / a c ) N vs. Non-N Benefit Beckie and Brandt Nitrogen (lb/ac) Previous Stubble Crop Wheat Canola Pea

7 Barley Grain Yield (bu/a) ) Huntley, 2011 Bozeman, Camelina Fallow S. Pea W. pea W. wheat N Rate (lbs/a) Camelina Fallow S. Pea peagm W. wheat N Rate (lbs/a) EFFECT OF PREVIOUS CROP ON BARLEY YIELD

8 Mandan, ND Froid, MT Akron, CO Havre, MT Huntley, MT A TOUR OF CROP ROTATION STUDIES IN OUR BACKYARD

9 Annual Precip Mandan ND Multi-year Dryland Quantify rotation benefit normals CROP SEQUENCE STUDY

10 STUDY DESIGN: STRIP-PLOT Year 1, strips of 10 crops Canola Crambe Dry bean Dry pea Flax Safflower Soybean Sunflower Spring Wheat Barley Year 2, same crops strips planted perpendicular to 1 st year crops

11 QUANTIFYING CROP ROTATION RESPONSE Mandan, ND 1999 Previous crop Canola Crambe Dry bean Dry pea Flax Safflower Soybean Sunflower Spring wheat Barley lbs / acre Canola Crambe Dry bean Dry pea Flax Safflower Soybean Sunflower Spring wheat Barley Tanaka et al Agron J. 97:

12 RELATIVE YIELD Mandan, ND 1999 Previous crop Canola Crambe Dry bean Dry pea Flax Safflower Soybean Sunflower Spring wheat Barley Canola Crambe Dry bean Dry pea Flax Safflower Soybean Sunflower Spring wheat Barley average One possibility: Wheat Dry pea Canola Wheat Tanaka et al Agron J. 97:

13 Combined years, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2004 Combined crop types into: CS Pulse: dry pea, lentil CS grass: spring wheat, barley WS grass: corn, grain sorghum, proso-millet Sun or Saf: sunflower & safflower Canola CONDENSING THEIR DATA TO RELEVANT MONTANA CROPS

14 Data from Tanaka et al & Crop to be grown Residue CS grass WS grass CS Pulse Canola Sun or Saf CS grass WS grass CS Pulse Canola Sun or Saf average RELATIVE YIELD RESPONSE EXPECTED

15 LONG-TERM TILLAGE/CROP SEQUENCE STUDY Rotation study near Culbertson, MT Established in 1983 by Aase and Pikul, USDA-ARS (data collected till 2004) Dooley sandy loam soil Comparing tillage and crop rotations All crop rotation phases present each year Annual Precip normals Sainju et al., Agron J 101:

16 TILLAGE AND CROP TREATMENTS 1) No Till-Continuous Spring Wheat 2) Spring Till-Continuous Sp. Wheat (sweep plow) 3)Fall & Spring Till Continuous Sp. Wheat 4) Fall & Spring Till Wheat/Barley ( 83-99) Wheat/Pea ( 99-04) 5) Spring Till Sp. Wheat/Fallow Sainju et al., Agron J 101:

17 AVERAGE SPRING WHEAT YIELDS Near Culbertson, MT Tillage Crop Sequence Yield by Precip Range* bushels/acre Low Med High 1 NT SW Till (Sp) SW Till (Fall+Sp) SW Till (Fall+Sp) SW/B/P Till (Sp) SW/Fallow Total number of years * Low < 8 in., Med 8-10 in., High > 10 in. growing season precipitation Sainju et al., Agron J. 101:

18 AVERAGE SPRING WHEAT YIELDS Near Culbertson, MT Tillage Crop Sequence Yield by Precip Range* % of Fallow Low Med High 1 NT SW Till (Sp) SW Till (Fall+Sp) SW Till (Fall+Sp) SW/B/P Total number of years * Low < 8 in., Med 8-10 in., High > 10 in. growing season precipitation Sainju et al., Agron J. 101:

19 CHANGES IN SOIL PROPERTIES AFTER 21Y Near Culbertson, MT Tillage Crop Sequence Organic C Organic N OM Lbs/acre lbs/acre % 1 NT SW 26,786 2, Till (Sp) SW 26,786 2, Till (Fall+Sp) SW 25,268 2, Till (Fall+Sp) SW/B/P 24,107 1, Till (Sp) SW/Fallow 19,286 1, Sainju et al., Agron J. 101:

20 Crop rotation study near Akron CO Weld loam soil, No-till, reduced-till RCB design with 16 different crop rotations including: Wheat/fallow CI of 0.5 Wheat/corn/fallow CI of 0.67 Wheat/corn/millet/fallow CI of 0.75 Wheat/corn/sunflower/fallow CI of 0.75 Annual Precip Wheat/corn/millet CI of normals CROPPING INTENSITY ON SOIL OM Bowman et al., 1999, Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 63:

21 SOIL ORGANIC MATTER POOLS Soil Organic Carbon Plant Residue Mineral Associated Carbon Pool Labile Carbon Pool POM C Soluble C Soil Inorganic Carbon Microbial Biomass C

22 Soil organic matter properties after 5 years Akron CO 0 to 5-cm depth, Intensity Soil OC Total N POM C POM N Sol C Mg ha b 0.63 c 2.10 c 0.20 b 0.40 b b 0.67 bc 2.70 b 0.20 b 0.39 b b 0.72 b 2.90 b 0.17 b 0.44 b a 0.79 a 4.20 a 0.26 a 0.55 a 0 to 15-cm depth Intensity Soil OC Total N POM C POM N Sol C Mg ha b 1.46 a 3.80 b 0.32 b 0.88 c ab 1.48 a 4.20 ab 0.40 ab 0.97 bc ab 1.50 a 4.60 ab 0.44 ab 1.05 b a 1.58 a 5.00 a 0.50 a 1.19 a Cropping intensity: 0.5=wheat/fallow, 1.0=continuous cropping Different letters within a column indicate significance at 0.05 using Fisher s LSD Bowman et al., 1999, Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 63:

23 Crop rotation study near Havre MT Scobey clay loam and Kevin clay loam soil, No-till, reduced-till RCB design with 9 different crop rotations including: SW continuous SW Fallow (F) SW SW F SW Lentil (L) SW Pea (P) - F Annual Precip normals CROP INTENSITY ON SOIL OM Sainju et al., 2006, Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 70:

24 Particulate Org Matter (ton/acre) Changes in soil POM-C after 6 Year Crop Rotation Study Near Havre, MT Sequence Biomass returned ton/acre POM-C 0 8 in depth ton/acre wheat (w) w fallow (F) w - lentil w - w - F w pea - F y = x R² = Residue Returned (ton/acre) Sainju et al., 2006 Soil Sci Soc Am J. 70:

25 LONG-TERM ROTATION STUDY HUNTLEY, MT

26 Research Question: How can we improve from wheat/fallow Economics Soil quality Sustainability Initial year = 2008 Large plots to be more similar to farmer fields Plots: 30 ft x 90 ft Only treatment is Rotation (sequence) Annual Precip normals CROP SEQUENCE STUDY HUNTLEY

27 Crop Sequence Treatments Huntley, MT Trt Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 1 Winter wheat Fallow 2 Winter wheat Spring wheat Fallow 3 Winter wheat Spring pea Fallow 4 Spring Pea Winter wheat Fallow 5 Winter wheat Spring wheat Lentil 6 Winter wheat Spring wheat Cover crop (lentil) 7 Winter wheat Spring wheat Camelina 8* Winter wheat Spring wheat Pea Camelina * Winter wheat Barley Pea Camelina *2012 Winter wheat Lentil Spring Wheat Camelina

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29 METHODS RCB Design with 4 replications Lohmiller silty clay grading to Thurlow clay loam Varieties have varied but generally Yellowstone Vida CDC Redberry Mozart Sustainable oils SO-30 Fertilizer as per MSU guidelines. Yield goals based on previous year yields. Fall soil samples

30 ECONOMIC NUMBERS Herbicide costs: Annual NDSU Weed Guide Wheat price: USDA AMS from PNW Lentil price: USDA AMS from PNW Barley, peas: Local feed value Camelina: Sustainable Oils contract price Seed costs: Local Billings price Fertilizer costs: USDA-NASS NW Region

31 Seasonal Precipitation, Huntley, MT Year Precip (in) % of LT avg GDD

32 Grain yield for each crop averaged across rotations Huntley, MT lbs/acre Crop Mean CV % Winter wheat Spring wheat Spring pea Lentil cover Lentil grain Feed barley Camelina

33 Grain yield by previous crop for Huntley MT lbs/acre W Wheat after Mean CV % Fallow Lentil Cover Lentil Grain Spring Pea Camelina Peas after Mean CV % Fallow Winter wheat

34 Annualized Grain Yield (lbs/a) a ab ab a abc ab bc c WW FALLOW WW SW FALLOW WW PEA FALLOW PEA WW FALLOW WW SW LENTIL WW SW COVER WW SW CAMELINA WW LENTIL SW CAMELINA ww sw pea lentil camelina 1) Columns with the same letter are not significantly different using Fisher s LSD(.05)

35 1a Date Treatment Cost Fall 2011 Soil sample $ /28/2011 Fert 200 lbs urea/acre $ /24/2011 RT3 22 oz/a + ams 2lbs/a $2.45 Fall 2011 Seeded Yellowstone 60 lb/a $ /2/2012 Huskie 11 oz/a + Rimfire 2.2 oz/a 8/2/2012 Harvest $ c Date Treatment Cost Fall 2011 Soil sample $ /24/ oz/a + 2lbs/a AMS $2.45 3/28/ oz/a + 2lbs/a AMS $2.45 INPUT COSTS PER TREATMENT PHASE

36 ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES Income: Yields x Avg annual market price (Aug Oct) Summed over each phase of each rotation Expenses: (Not a full economic analysis ) Seed + fertilizer + herbicide Annualized Income= (sum income expenses)/# years in rotation

37 Annualized Returns $$$ /acre for Various Crop Sequences Huntley Sequence mean CV (%) w f w sw f w p f p w f 164 a 245 ab 283 a 244 a 110 c 94 bc 190 a a 273 a 287 a 158 b 102 c 96 bc 177 ab a 222 b 202 b 177 b 219 a 84 bc 177 ab b 227 b 169 b 46 c 169 b 69 c 132 ab 52 w sw cov w sw L 150 a 262 a 284 a 120 c 42 d 77 c 156 ab a 277 ab 318 a 14 b 220 a 115 ab 184 a 61 w sw c 106 bc 249 ab 291 a 32 c 78 c 132 a 148 ab 68 w L sw c * 96 c 176 c 123 c 33 c 177 b 88 bc 116 b 48 Different letters within a column indicate significant difference at 5% probability level. Abbreviations used : w winter wheat; sw spring wheat; p spring pea; L lentil; c camelina; cov cover crop *For barley (b) was substituted for spring wheat and the rotation was w b p c.

38 It s clear why wheat/fallow remains a dominant practice But some other rotations can compete ww/sw/lentil ww/sw/fallow ww/pea/fallow ww/sw/camelina Lentil as cover has little impact on economics If fallow ground is available, winter wheat is a better choice than spring pea Producers need some incentive beyond economic return to intensify crop production. CONCLUSIONS FROM SARC

39 Diverse rotations can be successful both agronomically and economically Diversity can improve or sustain soil organic matter Fallow should be minimized where possible CONCLUSIONS OVERALL

40 Thanks Contact info: Kent A McVay Extension Cropping Systems Specialist Southern Agricultural Research Center 748 Railroad Hwy Huntley, MT