Effet of Nitrogen Rte on Yield of Nine Wrm-seson Introdued Perennil Forge Vrieties By Eddie Funderurg, Jon T. Biermher, Corey Moffet, Mohu Hque nd Jgdeesh Mosli When rnhers think out plnting n introdued summer perennil forge vriety, there re usully two questions. One is, Do hyrid vrieties tht do well in reserh tests with hevy fertiliztion lso do well with less, or no, fertilizer? Two is, If I fertilize my lower yielding vriety more hevily, will it yield s well s the hyrid vrieties tht re expensive to estlish? Unfortuntely, most reserh tests re not set up to nswer oth questions. Most vriety trils ompre severl different vrieties t single nitrogen rte tht is usully higher thn most rnhers use. The reson high nitrogen rte is used is to determine the geneti potentil of the vriety. Most nitrogen rte tests use only one vriety, so they re very useful if you hve tht vriety, ut less useful if you don t. A test ws designed to nswer oth of the produer questions listed ove. Nine vrieties of introdued wrm- NF-SO-12-01 seson perennil forges were seleted; seven ermud grss nd two old world luestem vrieties. These were fertilized with five nitrogen rtes. The test ws loted t the Nole Foundtion Psture Demonstrtion Frm, out 5 miles northwest of Ardmore, Okl. Soil series ws Chiksh lom, 1-3% slope nd severely eroded due to pst mngement prties. This mde the site representtive of mny fields tht produers plnt to wrm-seson introdued perennil forges. The ermudgrss vrieties hosen for the study were Common, lend of Common nd Gint (sold under mny trde nmes), Cheyenne, Wrngler, Costl, Midlnd 99 nd Tifton 85. Old world luestem vrieties were Plins nd WW B Dhl. These vrieties were seleted euse they re ommonly grown in the re nd represent mixture of seeded nd sprigged vrieties. Following is rief desription of eh vriety. 4 The Smuel Roerts Nole Foundtion
Common This ermudgrss n e estlished from either seed or sprigs. There is no estlished geneti mkeup of Common sine it is thll nme for ny seeded ermudgrss tht hs no other nme. For this reson, there is tremendous vrition within Common. Common usully hs low-growing posture, mkes thik sod nd is winter-hrdy. Gint This ermudgrss n e estlished from either seed or sprigs. It ws seleted from Common in the rid southwestern U.S. nd hs een mrketed sine the 1960s. It hs n upright growth posture nd is very high yielding. Unfortuntely, it is not winter-hrdy nd does not survive extreme old. It is often used in seeded lends of ermud grss sine it is very fst estlishing nd produes high yields until it freezes out. When tht hppens, the other vrieties in the lend tke over. Cheyenne This ermudgrss n e estlished from either seed or sprigs. It is ross etween ermudgrss found in the Pifi Northwest of the U.S. nd ermudgrss found in southestern Europe. It ws originlly relesed in 1989. It is old-hrdy nd fst estlishing. Its growth hit resemles Common. Wrngler This ermudgrss n e estlished from either seed or sprigs. It ws developed from germplsm t Oklhom Stte University. It is old-hrdy nd fst estlishing. Its growth hit resemles Common. Costl This hyrid ermudgrss n only e estlished from plnt prts, either top growth or sprigs. In Texs nd Oklhom, it is usully estlished y plnting sprigs. It ws developed in Tifton, G., nd relesed in 1943. Although it is very old vriety, it is still high yielding. It hs n upright growth hit. However, it is only somewht winterhrdy nd will sometimes freeze out in res north of the Red River. Midlnd 99 This hyrid ermudgrss n only e estlished from plnt prts nd is usully estlished y plnting sprigs. It ws developed from geneti mteril from Oklhom, Ghn nd Afghnistn, nd ws relesed jointly in 1999 y Oklhom Stte University, the Nole Foundtion nd the USDA. It is fst estlishing, high yielding nd winter-hrdy. It hs n upright growth hit tht resemles Costl. Tifton 85 This hyrid ermudgrss n only e estlished from plnt prts, either top growth or sprigs. In Texs nd Oklhom, it is usully estlished y plnting sprigs. Tifton 85 ws developed in Tifton, G., from ross etween Tifton 68 nd strgrss vriety from South Afri, nd relesed in 1993. It is extremely high yielding with good qulity. It grows nd spreds very ggressively. It hs n upright growth hit with thiker stems nd shorter, wider leves thn other ermudgrss vrieties. However, it is not winter-hrdy nd n freeze out in very old wether. Plins This old world luestem vriety is estlished from seed. Plins is lend of 30 similr suessions from six ountries nd ws relesed in 1972. It is the most widespred old world luestem vriety in Texs nd Oklhom. It is ommonly used in res where ermudgrss does not do well, suh s more rid limtes or uplnd hevy ly soils. Plins does not onsistently do well in wet soil onditions. WW B Dhl This old world luestem vriety is estlished from seeds. WW B Dhl ws jointly relesed y Texs A&M University, Texs Teh University nd the Soil Conservtion Servie (now known s the Nturl Resoures Conservtion Servie) in 1994. WW B Dhl is higher yielding thn Plins nd hs higher forge qulity. It hs roder leves thn Plins. It is dpted to the sme soil types s Plins, ut is reported to e less winter-hrdy thn Plins. Methodology of Test The test ws estlished in the spring of 2007. The introdued perennil summer forge vrieties were plnted either from seed (Common, Common/Gint lend, Cheyenne, Wrngler, Plins nd WW B Dhl) or sprigs (Costl, Midlnd 99 nd Tifton 85). No nitrogen fertilizer ws pplied in 2007, nd plots were not hrvested for yield in 2007. Plots were hrvested for yield in 2008, 2009 nd 2010. Five rtes of nitrogen fertilizer were used; 0, 50, 100, 200 nd 300 pounds tul nitrogen per re. Phosphorus nd potssium were pplied ording to soil test results in the spring of eh yer. Plots reeiving 0, 50 nd 100 pounds of nitrogen reeived ll their fertilizer in April of eh yer. The plots reeiving 200 pounds of nitrogen per re were fertilized with 100 pounds of nitrogen per re in April nd 100 pounds of nitrogen per re fter 2 The Smuel Roerts Nole Foundtion
the first hrvest. Plots reeiving 300 pounds of nitrogen per re were fertilized with 100 pounds of nitrogen per re in April, 100 pounds of nitrogen per re fter the first hrvest nd 100 pounds of nitrogen fter the seond hrvest. The nitrogen soure ws mmonium nitrte. The tretments were replited three times. Plots were hrvested four times during the growing seson of eh yer from 2008-2010. The first hrvest ourred in lte My or erly June of eh yer. Susequent hrvests were mde pproximtely 30 dys prt. Growing seson preipittion ws highly vrile during the three yers of the test. The growing seson of 2008 ws onsiderly drier thn verge; the growing seson of 2009 ws onsiderly wetter thn verge; nd the growing seson of 2010 reeived nerly verge preipittion (Tle 1). Best Vriety t Individul Nitrogen Rtes Tle 2 shows the differenes in vrieties t ny given nitrogen rte. The sttistis in the tle re interpreted y oserving the letters ppering eside the yield in olumn (up nd down). If the sme letter ppers eside different vrieties t the sme nitrogen rte, the yields of the vrieties re not sttistilly different t tht nitrogen rte t the 95% level of proility. When no nitrogen ws used, the highest yielding vriety ws Tifton 85. Plins, WW B Dhl, Common/Gint, Costl nd Midlnd 99 ll hd sttistilly similr yields when no nitrogen ws used. These vrieties yielded less thn Tifton 85 with no nitrogen, ut etter thn Wrngler nd Common, whih were the lowest yielding vrieties in the test. Adding Gint to Common inresed yield y lmost 1 ton of dry mtter forge per re over tht otined with Common lone. Tle 1. Growing seson rinfll (inhes) dt for the Nole Foundtion Psture Demonstrtion Frm ner Ardmore, Okl., from 2008-10 nd the most reent 30 yer verge Yer April My June July August Septemer Otoer Growing seson totl 30 Yer Averge 3.19 5.08 4.25 2.47 2.47 4.16 4.36 25.98 2007 1.44 7.74 6.09 2.93 1.42 1.52 2.59 23.73 2008 2.24 3.2 1.79 1.09 3.88 1.59 2.51 16.30 2009 7.36 8.51 1.94 3.92 1.96 7.21 7.64 38.54 2010 3.11 4.03 2.72 2.11 3.7 6.44 1.65 23.76 Tle 2. Three-yer verge yields (l dry mtter/re) of nine different vrieties of introdued summer perennil grss vrieties otined with five nitrogen rtes in south-entrl Oklhom in 2008-2010 N rte l/re Vriety 0 r 50 100 200 300 Plins 5399 5602 6557 de 5807 5750 e WW B Dhl 5822 7913 8638 8355 9042 Cheyenne 3993 d 4630 d 5586 def 6159 6784 de Wrngler 3305 d 3793 d 4087 f 6106 7760 d Common 3237 d 4367 d 5083 ef 5682 5464 e Common/Gint 5141 5023 d 7002 d 7986 7929 d Costl 4753 6036 7675 9226 10660 Midlnd 99 4974 5472 d 7366 8216 9563 Tifton 85 7889 10121 10158 11452 13592 P>F 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 r Yields in olumn (within given N pplition rte) followed y the sme letter re not sttistilly different (α = 0.05). The Smuel Roerts Nole Foundtion 4 3
When fertilized with 50 pounds of nitrogen per re, Tifton 85 ws still the highest yielding vriety in the test. WW B Dhl old world luestem ws the seond est vriety in the test when 50 pounds of nitrogen per re were used. The other vrieties in the test ll hd similr yields t the nitrogen rte of 50 pounds per re, exept for Wrngler, whih ws the lowest yielding vriety t this nitrogen rte. When the plots were fertilized with 100 pounds of nitrogen per re, more differenes in yield etween vrieties were oserved. Tifton 85 ws gin the highest yielding vriety in the test (sttistilly tied with WW B Dhl). Plins, WW B Dhl, Common/Gint, Costl nd Midlnd 99 ll showed sttistilly similr yields when fertilized with 100 pounds of nitrogen per re. Common, Cheyenne nd Wrngler yielded the lest of the vrieties tested when 100 pounds of nitrogen per re were used. When the plots were fertilized with 200 pounds of nitrogen per re, Tifton 85 ws the highest yielding vriety in the test. WW B Dhl, Common/Gint, Costl nd Midlnd 99 were ll tied for seond highest yielding vriety in the test, nd Plins, Common, Cheyenne nd Wrngler were the poorest yielding vrieties in the test when fertilized with 200 pounds of nitrogen per re. Tifton 85 ws the est yielding vriety in the test when fertilized with 300 pounds of nitrogen per re. Costl, Midlnd 99 nd WW B Dhl were sttistilly the next est yielders when fertilized with 300 pounds of nitrogen per re. The poorest yielding vrieties t 300 pounds of nitrogen per re were Plins, Common nd Cheyenne. Summry of Informtion on Best Vriety t Individul Nitrogen Rtes Tifton 85 ws the est, or tied for the est, yielding vriety t every nitrogen rte tested. If produer lives in limte where hrsh winter wether is unlikely, or is risk tolernt nd willing to ept the ft tht Tifton 85 my not survive d winter, Tifton 85 is n exellent hoie sed on yield potentil. Tifton 85 survived the winter of 2009-10 in our test, ut ws lte emerging in the spring of 2010 nd did not yield s well s it did in 2008 nd 2009. However, even though it suffered winter injury in 2010, it still out-produed every other entry in the test. Aording to the results of our test, if produer is unwilling or unle to fertilize, the est hoies re Tifton 85, Plins, WW B Dhl, Cheyenne, Common/Gint, Costl or Midlnd 99. If produer is willing to pply smll mount of nitrogen, suh s 50 pounds of nitrogen per re, Tifton 85 nd WW B Dhl re exellent hoies. If produer is willing to fertilize with t lest 100 pounds of nitrogen per re, Tifton 85, Costl, Midlnd 99, WW B Dhl nd Common/Gint ll mde very good yields. Mny produers lend Gint with Common when plnting ermudgrss from seed. Our study showed this to e n exellent ide. The verge inrese from dding Gint to Common ws 1 ton of dry mtter forge per yer over tht otined with Common lone. In our study, Gint survived the winters of 2007-08 nd 2008-09, ut ws severely dmged y the winter of 2009-10. At lest 80% of the Gint plnts in our plots were killed in the winter of 2009-10. Although Gint only lsted two yers in our study, its ddition to Common ws more thn worth the extr seed ost. In generl, if produer is willing to fertilize with t lest 100 pounds of nitrogen per re, the hyrid (sprigged) ermudgrss vrieties nd WW B Dhl old world luestem re superior to the seeded ermudgrss vrieties nd Plins old world luestem. An exeption is Gint seeded ermudgrss, whih will likely lst only few yers due to old dmge. If produer is unwilling to fertilize, the old world luestem vrieties, Common/Gint lend nd the hyrid ermudgrss vrieties re good hoies. Optimum Nitrogen Rte for Eh Vriety The optimum nitrogen rte for eh vriety ws determined. The following grphs inlude the dt points for eh yer nd replition. Dt points for yields for the drier thn verge yer of 2008 re represented y lue dimonds, yields for the wetter thn verge yer of 2009 re represented y red squres nd yields for the verge preipittion yer of 2010 re represented y green tringles. One n determine trend of how preipittion ffeted vriety s yield y oserving these symols. Three dt points re inluded for eh yer t eh nitrogen rte. These points indite the yield in eh replition. In ddition, line grphing the verge response over the three yer period is inluded, with the eqution desriing the verge yield line. Letters on the dt points on the verge response line denote whether the yield differenes re sttistilly signifint t eh nitrogen rte. 4 The Smuel Roerts Nole Foundtion
Plins Old World Bluestem Response to Nitrogen Yield (DM l/re) Effet of nitrogen rte on yield of Plins old world luestem 2008 2009 2010 Averge y = 5354 N Rte (l/re) Plins did not respond to nitrogen fertilizer in ny yer tested. Mny produers do not fertilize Plins due to pereived lk of response, nd our study reinfores this. Plins tended to yield less in the dry yer of 2008, nd out the sme in the wet yer of 2009 nd the verge preipittion yer of 2010. Cheyenne Bermudgrss Response to Nitrogen Yield (DM l/re) Effet of nitrogen rte on yield of Cheyenne ermudgrss 2008 2009 2010 Averge Y = 4265 + 18.8N N Rte (l/re) Cheyenne ermudgrss responded well to 100 pounds of nitrogen per re, ut not to higher levels of nitrogen or to 50 pounds of nitrogen per re. Cheyenne mde its poorest yields in the verge preipittion yer of 2010 nd yielded out the sme in the dry yer of 2008 nd the wet yer of 2009. WW B Dhl Old World Bluestem Response to Nitrogen Wrngler Bermudgrss Response to Nitrogen Yield (DM l/re) Effet of nitrogen rte on yield of WW B Dhl old world luestem Y = min(5822 + 41.8N, 8678) 2008 2009 2010 Averge Yield (DM l/re) Effet of nitrogen rte on yield of Wrngler ermudgrss 2008 2009 2010 Averge Y = 2926 + 15.7N N Rte (l/re) WW B Dhl responded very well to 68 pounds of nitrogen per re, ut not to higher mounts. The dt points show tht WW B Dhl did muh worse thn its verge yield in the dry yer of 2008, nd yielded out the sme in the wet yer of 2009 nd the verge preipittion yer of 2010. Produers with WW B Dhl should strongly onsider pplying 50-75 pounds of tul nitrogen per re sine the verge response ws 42 pounds of dry mtter forge per 1 pound of nitrogen pplied. This ws the est response to nitrogen of ny vriety we tested. N Rte (l/re) Wrngler ermudgrss mde mximum yields when fertilized with 300 pounds of nitrogen per re, ut lso outyielded the hek plots when fertilized with 200 pounds of nitrogen per re. Fertilizing with 50 or 100 pounds of nitrogen per re did not inrese yields ove those otined with no nitrogen. Wrngler yielded onsiderly less thn its verge in the dry yer of 2008 nd yielded slightly more thn its verge in the wet yer of 2009. The Smuel Roerts Nole Foundtion 5
Common Bermudgrss Response to Nitrogen Yield (DM l/re) Effet of nitrogen rte on yield of Common ermudgrss 2008 2009 2010 Averge Y = 3332 + 22.2N - 0.05N 2 N Rte (l/re) The optimum fertiliztion rte for Common ermudgrss ws 100 pounds of nitrogen per re. Common yielded muh less thn its verge in the dry yer of 2008, out its verge yield in the wet yer of 2009 nd more thn its verge yield in the verge preipittion yer of 2010. Yield (DM l/re) Costl Bermudgrss Response to Nitrogen Effet of nitrogen rte on yield of Costl ermudgrss 2008 2009 2010 Averge Y = 5277 + 18.8N d d N Rte (l/re) Costl ermudgrss optimized yield when fertilized with 200 pounds of nitrogen per re. Yields of Costl were highly vrile with preipittion nd yielded etter s the preipittion inresed. Common/Gint Blend Bermudgrss Response to Nitrogen Midlnd 99 Bermudgrss Response to Nitrogen Effet of nitrogen rte on yield of Common/Gint lend ermudgrss Effet of nitrogen rte on yield of Midlnd 99 ermudgrss 2008 2009 2010 Averge 2008 2009 2010 Averge Y = 5213 + 10.8N Y = 5146 + 15.3N Yield (DM l/re) Yield (DM l/re) N Rte (l/re) Common/Gint lend optimized yield when fertilized with 100 pounds of nitrogen per re. It yielded less in 2010, not euse of preipittion, ut euse the Gint omponent of the lend froze out in the winter of 2009-10. Common/Gint lend yielded muh more in the wet yer of 2009 thn in the dry yer of 2008. N Rte (l/re) Midlnd 99 optimized yields with 300 pounds of nitrogen per re. Midlnd 99 ws less sensitive to preipittion rte thn ny other vriety nd mde out the sme yield regrdless of the growing seson preipittion. 6 The Smuel Roerts Nole Foundtion
Tifton 85 Bermudgrss Response to Nitrogen Yield (DM l/re) Effet of nitrogen rte on yield of Tifton 85 ermudgrss 0 1 Y = 8650 + 15.9N 2008 2009 2010 Averge N Rte (l/re) Tifton 85 ermudgrss optimized yield when fertilized with 300 pounds of nitrogen per re. However, it mde exellent yields regrdless of the nitrogen rte used. Tifton 85 mde muh higher yields in the wet yer of 2009. The lower yields in 2010 re proly due more to winter injury suffered in the winter of 2009-10 thn to differenes in preipittion. Summry of Informtion on Optimum Nitrogen Rte for Eh Vriety Plins old world luestem did not respond to nitrogen t ny rte tested. Mny produers do not fertilize Plins due to this lk of response. Our reserh vlidtes their deision. WW B Dhl old world luestem responded very well to 50 pounds of nitrogen per re, ut not to higher rtes. If produers hve WW B Dhl, strong onsidertion should e given to pplying 50 pounds of nitrogen per re. At this nitrogen rte, eh pound of nitrogen pplied resulted in yield inrese of 42 pounds of dry mtter forge per re, whih ws the highest onversion of nitrogen to forge oserved in the test. The seeded ermudgrss vrieties (Common, Common/Gint lend nd Cheyenne) generlly responded well to 100 pounds of nitrogen per re, ut not to higher rtes. The exeption ws Wrngler, whih showed yield inreses only when 200 or 300 pounds of nitrogen per re were pplied. The hyrid ermudgrss vrieties (Costl, Midlnd 99 nd Tifton 85) responded well to high rtes of nitrogen. All three vrieties showed positive yield responses t 300 pounds of nitrogen per re. Produers should onsider forge needs nd fertilizer pries when deiding on nitrogen rtes for these vrieties sine they n utilize lmost ny rte of nitrogen produer is willing to pply. < The Smuel Roerts Nole Foundtion 7
The Smuel Roerts Nole Foundtion 2510 Sm Nole Prkwy Ardmore, Oklhom 73401 Phone: (580) 223-5810 www.nole.org 2012 y the Smuel Roerts Nole Foundtion