Nutrient Management in Tile Drained Fields (Results from 2016 NREC Projects) Lowell Gentry Principal Research Specialist in Agriculture University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign IFCA Annual Conference Peoria, IL January 17, 2017
Project 1 Evaluating a Combination of Practices (Testing the IL NLRS) Corn - Soybean - Wheat Cover crops Woodchip bioreactor Lowell Gentry and Mark David NRES
Methods C-S-W with each phase of the rotation every year. Cereal rye after corn, winter wheat after soybean, and radish, turnip and red clover after wheat. Strip-till corn, no-till soybean, and no-till wheat. Woodchip bioreactor at the end of each tile outlet.
Bioreactor Plumbing Plastic Liner Solid pipe Perforated pipe Solid pipe Tile Flow Agri Drain structure
Experimental Design Corn (75 A) Bioreactor 1 Soybean (75 A) Bioreactor 2 Wheat (55 A) Bioreactor 3
Field Design and Crop Rotation 2015-2016 Corn -Soybean (75 A) 2016 Corn (29 A) Wheat on west side in 2014 for tiling Soybean -Wheat (75 A) Bioreactor 1 Bioreactor 2 Soybean (27 A) Wheat on east side in 2015 for tiling Wheat-Corn (55 A) Bioreactor 3 Cont. Corn w/o Cover (17 A) Cont. Corn with Cover (19 A)
Temperature Mean Monthly Temperature ( F) 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 2015 AVG 2016 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Precipitation Mean Monthly Precipitation (inches) 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 2015 AVG 2016 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
30 25 Hydrograph of tile flow Flow (L/s) 20 15 10 5 0 3/1/15 5/1/15 7/1/15 9/1/15 30 Corn from each field Flow (L/s) 25 20 15 10 5 Soybean 0 3/1/15 5/1/15 7/1/15 9/1/15 The wheat field had little tile flow during May and June compared to either the corn or soybean fields. This occurred again in 2016 (and on a new plot). Flow (L/s) 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 3/1/15 5/1/15 7/1/15 9/1/15 Wheat
Nitrate-N (ppm) 15 10 5 Tile Nitrate Concentration Corn Soybean Wheat 0 9/1/2014 1/1/2015 5/2/2015 9/1/2015
Crop Yield in 2015 Corn (253 bu/a) N Rate Soybean (83 bu/a) Wheat (77 bu/a)
2015 Corn Stalk Nitrate 7000 6000 Stalk Nitrate (ppm) 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 0 20 50 100 150 200 250 N Rate (lbs/a)
2015 Corn Grain Yield 350 300 Grain Yield (bu/a) 250 200 150 100 50 0 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 N Rate (lbs/a)
Tons/A lbs/a Cereal Rye 0.61 31
Cover Crop Cocktail Radish, turnip, and red clover (plus volunteer wheat) Photo by John M. Green
Tons/A lbs/a Radish 1.67 50 Turnip 0.73 18 Red Clover 0.26 14 Volunteer wheat 0.21 10 Total 2.87 92
Tons/A lbs/a Red Clover 0.49 44 Volunteer wheat 0.40 20 Total 0.89 64
Nitrate-N (ppm) 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 Tile Nitrate from C-S-W Corn Soybean Wheat 0 9/1/2014 1/1/2015 5/2/2015 9/1/2015 12/31/2015
Tile Nitrate from C-S-W Nitrate-N (ppm) 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 Corn-Cereal Rye-Soybean Soybean-Winter Wheat Wheat-Radish/Turnip-Corn 0 9/1/2014 1/31/2015 7/2/2015 12/1/2015 5/1/2016 9/30/2016
Nitrate In and Out of Bioreactor 10 8 IN OUT Nitrate-N (ppm) 6 4 Stoplogs removed for field work 2 0 10/1/2015 12/31/2015 4/1/2016 7/1/2016 10/1/2016
Crop Yield in 2016 Soybean (75 bu/a) DC Soy (54) bu/a) Wheat (101 bu/a) Corn (206 bu/a) N Rate
Crop Yield in 2016 Soybean (75 bu/a) Wheat (101 bu/a) N Rate N Rate Corn (219 bu/a) Soybean (86 bu/a) Corn (206 bu/a) N Rate
2016 Corn Stalk Nitrate 3000 2500 Cover No Cover Stalk Nitrate (ppm) 2000 1500 1000 500 0 22 20 50 56 112 100 168 150 200 224 280 250 N Rate (lbs/a)
2016 Corn Grain Yield 300 250 Grain Yield (bu/a) 200 150 100 50 Cover No Cover 0 0 50 100 150 200 250 N Rate (lbs/a)
What caused the problem? Huge cover crop biomass ( soil temps.) Poor quality biomass ( immobilization) Too much volunteer wheat (allelopathy)
This study provides proof of concept that: Tile nitrate loads can be greatly reduced with a longer rotation and cover crops, and nearly be eliminated when cover crops are combined with a bioreactor.
Project 2 Nitrogen Management Systems in Tile Drained Fields: Optimizing Yields while Minimizing Losses Mark David NRES Emerson Nafziger Crop Sciences Lowell Gentry NRES
Nitrogen Treatments 1. Full rate of NH 3 (160 lb N/acre) with nitrapyrin in the fall. 2. - 80 lb N applied as NH 3 with nitrapyrin in the fall - 40 lb N/acre as UAN at planting - 40 lb side-dressed as UAN 3. Full rate applied as NH 3 (no nitrapyrin) in early spring.
Nitrogen Treatments (cont.) 4. Reduced rate (120 lb N/acre) as NH 3 (no nitrapyrin) in early spring. 5. - 80 lb N applied as NH 3 early spring - 80 lb N as UAN side-dressed. 6. N split as in #5 with cover crops (Oats-radish mixture seeded into standing soybean) (Cereal rye after corn).
Methods 6 treatments with 3 replicates Both phases of the corn/soybean rotation every year 36 tile monitored tile lines (18 in corn and 18 in soybean) Plots are 100 feet wide (50 ft on each side of 5 inch lateral) (AVG = 4.2 A) RCB design (6 blocks/6 treatments) Treatments began in the spring of 2015 (no fall N or cover crops in 2014) (Corn on all plots in 2014) Fall N applied and cover crops established in 2015 and 2016
Tile Map Cropping Pattern Soy-Corn Soy-Corn Corn-Soy Corn-Soy
Tile Monitoring Agri Drain structure V-notch and pressure transducer ISCO
Temperature Mean Monthly Temperature ( F) 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 2015 AVG 2016 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Precipitation Mean Monthly Precipitation (inches) 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 2015 AVG 2016 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Tile Nitrate Concentrations Averaged across Treatments (from 12/12/14 to end of tile flow) Soybean Corn Nitrate (mg N L -1 ) 20 15 10 5 160F (200S) 80/40/40 (200S) 160S (200S) 120S (155S) 0/80/80 (0/110/90) 0/80/80C (0/110/90) spring N side-dress N planted planted 0 12/1/14 1/1/15 2/1/15 3/1/15 4/1/15 5/1/15 6/1/15 7/1/15 8/1/15 12/1/14 1/1/15 2/1/15 3/1/15 4/1/15 5/1/15 6/1/15 7/1/15 8/1/15 Note: All plots were in corn in 2014. Corn N rate is greater (max of 200 lbs/a) in this first year (2015 N rates in parenthesis). No fall N was applied to corn in 2014. Fall N treatments were switched to 100% spring application. Each point is the average of the three replicates, and 1400 samples were collected.
Tile N Loads No significant differences between treatments There is significant differences between crops All Year After May 1 lbs/a ppm lbs/a ppm Corn 18.6 11.3* 9.0* 13.7* Soybean 16.6 10.2 7.4 10.3 * Denotes significant difference p< 0.05
Corn Harvest 2015 Yield rows consisted of 8 rows in the middle of each plot
Dan and Jason hard at work
Corn Yields 2015 (2 nd year corn) 250 200 Corn Yield (bu/a) 150 100 50 0 150 Spring 200 Spring 200 Split N Rate (lbs/a) and Timing of Application Note: 2015 Soybean Yield = 54 bu/a
Planting Cover Crops Oat and radish with Hagie seeder Aerial seeding of cereal rye Sept. 14, 2015 Sept. 16, 2015 Fall Biomass = 0.22 tons/a Biomass N = 16 lbs/a Spring Biomass = 1.10 tons/a Biomass N = 54 lbs/a
Tile Map Cropping Pattern Soy-Corn Soy-Corn Corn-Soy Corn-Soy
Tile Nitrate Concentrations Averaged across Treatments Nitrate (mg N L -1 ) 20 15 10 5 Soybean fall N Corn spring N side-dress N 160F (200S) 80/40/40 (200S) 160S (200S) 120S (155S) 0/80/80 (0/110/90) 0/80/80C (0/110/90) planted planted 0 12/1/14 2/1/15 4/1/15 6/1/15 8/1/15 10/1/15 12/1/15 12/1/14 2/1/15 4/1/15 6/1/15 8/1/15 10/1/15 12/1/15 Note: All plots were in corn in 2014. Corn N rate is greater (max of 200 lbs/a) in this first year (2015 N rates in parenthesis). No fall N was applied to corn in 2014. Fall N treatments were switched to 100% spring application. Each point is the average of the three replicates. (1400 samples collected)
Tile Nitrate Concentrations Averaged across Treatments (from 12/12/14 to end of tile flow in August 2016) Nitrate (mg N L -1 ) 25 20 15 10 5 0 12/1/14 2/1/15 Soybean 4/1/15 6/1/15 8/1/15 fall N spring N side-dress N Corn 10/1/15 12/1/15 2/1/16 4/1/16 6/1/16 8/1/16 10/1/16 12/1/16 spring N side-dress N Corn planted oat/radish planted planted rye planted 12/1/14 2/1/15 4/1/15 6/1/15 8/1/15 10/1/15 12/1/15 160F (200S) 80/40/40 (200S) 160S (200S) 120S (155S) 0/80/80 (0/110/90) 0/80/80C (0/110/90) Soybean 2/1/16 4/1/16 6/1/16 8/1/16 10/1/16 12/1/16 Note: All plots were in corn in 2014. Corn N rate is greater (max of 200 lbs/a) in first year (2015 N rates in parenthesis) No fall N was applied to corn in 2014. Fall N treatments were switched to 100% spring application. Each point is the average of the three replicates. (3500 samples collected) 25 20 15 10 5 0
Tile N Loads in 2016 Corn Plots 40 Tile Nitrate-N Load (lbs/a) 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 120S 160F 160S 80-40-40 80-80 80-80C N Treatments
Tile N Loads in 2016 Soybean Plots 40 35 Tile Nitrate-N Load (lbs/a) 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 120S 160F 160S 80-40-40 80-80 80-80C N Treatments in 2015
Corn Harvest 2016 Farmer planted 2 hybrids. (Yield rows for each hybrid consisted of 4 rows in the middle of each plot.)
2016 Corn Yields 250 200 Hybrid A Hybrid B Grain Yield (bu/a) 150 100 50 0 120S 160F 160S 80/40/40 80/80 80/80 C N Treatments
2016 Soybean Yields 100 90 80 Grain Yield (bu/a) 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 150S 200S 100/100 100/100 C N Treatments in 2015
Conclusions Little difference between spring and split N (yield or tile N) Fall N treatments show increased tile nitrate load Spring growth of cereal rye made a large difference in cover biomass and biomass N Cereal rye decreased tile nitrate without soybean yield loss Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategies are working
Thank you