• Authors:
    • Merrill, S.
    • Lares, M.
    • Tanaka, D.
    • Krupinsky, J.
  • Source: Agronomy Journal
  • Volume: 96
  • Issue: 1
  • Year: 2004
  • Summary: Crop diversification and crop sequencing can influence plant disease risk in cropping systems. The objective of this research was to determine the effect of 10 previous crops on leaf spot diseases of barley ( Hordeum vulgare L.) and hard red spring wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.). Barley and spring wheat were direct-seeded (no till) in the crop residue of 10 crops {barley, canola ( Brassica napus L.), crambe ( Crambe abyssinica Hochst. ex R.E. Fr.), dry bean ( Phaseolus vulgaris L.), dry pea ( Pisum sativum L.), flax ( Linum usitatissimum L.), safflower ( Carthamus tinctorius L.), soybean [ Glycine max (L.) Merr.], sunflower ( Helianthus annuus L.), and spring wheat}. Barley was evaluated for leaf spot diseases 15 times over 2 yr. Results indicate that risk for leaf spot disease on barley would be lower following wheat, crambe, canola and dry pea compared with the barley-after-barley treatment. Although barley yields were similar across all treatments one year, differences were detected in another year with the barley-after-barley treatment having the lowest yield. Spring wheat was evaluated for leaf spot diseases 22 times over 2 yr. Differences among treatments were more detectable in earlier evaluations, indicating a greater influence of crop residue and carryover of inoculum early in the season compared with later. The risk for leaf spot disease was lower when wheat was grown after canola, barley, crambe, and flax than when grown after the other crops. Although wheat yields were similar across all treatments one year, differences were detected in another year with the wheat-after-wheat treatment having the lowest yield.
  • Authors:
    • Correa, R.
    • Wilkins, D.
    • Siemens, M.
  • Source: Transactions of the ASAE
  • Volume: 47
  • Issue: 2
  • Year: 2004
  • Summary: Adoption of conservation tillage in the Pacific Northwest lags that of the U.S. in part due to the lack of reliable seeding equipment for planting into the high residue densities encountered in this region. To overcome this problem, a drill attachment was developed to manage heavy residue next to the furrow opening tines of hoe-type no-till drills. The U.S. patented device consists of a fingered rubber wheel, a rubber inner ring, and a spring-loaded arm that pivots about vertical and horizontal axes. The performance of the device was evaluated in terms of stand establishment and yield in Oregon and Washington. Test site locations varied significantly in the amount and condition of crop residue and were planted to a variety of different crops. As compared to the standard no-till drill without the attachment, use of the residue management wheel was found to increase the stand establishment of small seeded crops such as canola and mustard by over 40% and large seeded crops such as wheat and barley by approximately 17%. Increases in stand establishment were attributed to fewer piles of residue covering the seed row. Use of the device also significantly increased crop yield by up to 12% in 8 of the 20 trials conducted (P≤0.10). Although the residue management wheel costs $300 per unit to fabricate, using the device may be economically feasible if it results in significant improvements in both stand establishment and yield.
  • Authors:
    • Arshad, M.
    • Soon, Y.
  • Source: Canadian Journal of Soil Science
  • Volume: 84
  • Issue: 4
  • Year: 2004
  • Summary: A field study was conducted to determine the effects and interactions of crop sequence, tillage and residue management on labile N pools and their availability because such information is sparse. Experimental treatments were no-till (NT) vs. conventional tillage (CT), and removal vs. retention of straw, imposed on a barley ( Hordeum vulgare L.)-canola ( Brassica rapa L.)-field pea ( Pisum sativum L.) rotation. 15N-labelling was used to quantify N uptake from straw, below-ground N (BGN), and fertilizer N. Straw retention increased soil microbial biomass N (MBN) in 2 of 3 yr at the four-leaf growth stage of barley, consistent with observed decreases in extractable soil inorganic N at seeding. However, crop yield and N uptake at maturity were not different between straw treatments. No tillage increased soil MBN, crop yield and N uptake compared to CT, but had no effect on extractable soil inorganic N. The greater availability of N under NT was probably related to soil moisture conservation. Tillage effects on soil and plant N were mostly independent of straw treatment. Straw and tillage treatments did not influence the uptake of N from its various sources. However, barley following pea (legume/non-legume sequence) derived a greater proportion of its N from BGN (13 to 23% or 9 to 23 kg N ha -1) than canola following barley (non-legumes) (6 to 16% or 3 to 9 kg N ha -1). Fertilizer N constituted 8 to 11% of barley N uptake and 23 to 32% of canola N uptake. Straw N contributed only 1 to 3% of plant N uptake. This study showed the dominant influence of tillage on N availability, and of the preceding crop or cropping sequence on N uptake partitioning among available N sources.
  • Authors:
    • Andren, O.
    • Katterer, T.
    • Persson, J.
  • Source: Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems
  • Volume: 70
  • Issue: 2
  • Year: 2004
  • Summary: Land use in general and particularly agricultural practices can significantly influence soil carbon storage. In this paper, we investigate the long-term effects of management changes on soil carbon stock dynamics on a Swedish farm where C concentrations were measured in 1956 at 124 points in a regular grid. The soil was re-sampled at 65 points in 1984 and at all grid points in 2001. Before 1956 most of the fodder for dairy cattle was produced on the farm and crop rotations were dominated by perennial grass leys and spring cereals with manure addition. In 1956 all animals were sold; crop rotations were thereafter dominated by wheat, barley and rapeseed. Spatial variation in topsoil C concentration decreased significantly between 1956 and 2001. C stocks declined in fields with initially large C stocks but did not change significantly in fields with moderate C stocks. In the latter fields, soil C concentrations declined from 1956 to 1984, but increased slightly thereafter according to both measurements and simulations. Thus, the decline in C input due to the altered management in 1956 was partly compensated for by increasing crop yields and management changes, resulting in increased C input during the last 20 years. A soil carbon balance model (ICBM) was used to describe carbon dynamics during 45 years. Yield records were transformed to soil carbon input using allometric functions. Topsoil C concentrations ranging between 1.8 and 2.4% (depending on individual field properties) seemed to be in dynamic equilibrium with C input under recent farming and climatic conditions. Subsoil C concentrations seemed to be unaffected by the management changes.
  • Authors:
    • Brandsater, L. O.
    • Løes, A. K.
    • Riley, H.
  • Source: European weed research society. Proceedings of the 6th EWRS workshop on physical and cultural weed control, Lillehammer, Norway, 8-10 March, 2004
  • Year: 2004
  • Summary: Due to official regulations, Norwegian agriculture is divided into cereal cropping areas with very little animal husbandry, and areas with high livestock density in the coastal and mountain regions. Stockless organic farming requires a good management of green manure crops. This paper presents crop rotations designed for organic farming with low livestock density, combining weed control and nutrient supply. Rotation 1 consists of green manure, followed by barley with subcropped legume, oats and peas, green manure or winter rye, rye, ryegrass-clover, and late planted rapeseed. Rotation 1 is designed for a full-time farmer with good access to cultivated land, where 66% of the land is used for cereals and rapeseed, and 34% for green manure. Rotation 2 consists of cereal or lettuce, followed by 4-5 rotations of ley, then potatoes, green manure, cabbage with early mulch, and carrots with late mulch. Rotation 2 is designed for a part-time farmer with less farmland who wants to keep the land in shape and produce some cash crops, but cannot manage to cultivate all the farmland intensively. Forty-four percent of the land is then used for vegetables and herbs, and 56% to produce mulch or green manure crops. Green manure and mulch leys must be cut regularly to control perennial weeds.
  • Authors:
    • Riley, H.
    • Løes, A. K.
    • Brandsæter, L. O.
  • Source: European weed research society. Proceedings of the 6th EWRS workshop on physical and cultural weed control, Lillehammer, Norway, 8-10 March, 2004
  • Year: 2004
  • Summary: Due to official regulations, Norwegian agriculture is divided into cereal cropping areas with very little animal husbandry, and areas with high livestock density in the coastal and mountain regions. Stockless organic farming requires a good management of green manure crops. This paper presents crop rotations designed for organic farming with low livestock density, combining weed control and nutrient supply. Rotation 1 consists of green manure, followed by barley with subcropped legume, oats and peas, green manure or winter rye, rye, ryegrass-clover, and late planted rapeseed. Rotation 1 is designed for a full-time farmer with good access to cultivated land, where 66% of the land is used for cereals and rapeseed, and 34% for green manure. Rotation 2 consists of cereal or lettuce, followed by 4-5 rotations of ley, then potatoes, green manure, cabbage with early mulch, and carrots with late mulch. Rotation 2 is designed for a part-time farmer with less farmland who wants to keep the land in shape and produce some cash crops, but cannot manage to cultivate all the farmland intensively. Forty-four percent of the land is then used for vegetables and herbs, and 56% to produce mulch or green manure crops. Green manure and mulch leys must be cut regularly to control perennial weeds.
  • Authors:
    • Philip, H.
    • Woods, S.
    • Weiss, R. M.
    • Olfert, O.
    • Dosdall, L.
  • Source: The Canadian Entomologist
  • Volume: 136
  • Issue: 2
  • Year: 2004
  • Summary: Cereal leaf beetle, Oulema melanopus L., is an invasive pest insect of small grain cereal crops, particularly oat, wheat, and barley. The first report of cereal leaf beetle populations in North America came from Michigan in 1962. Surveys indicate that populations have become established throughout eastern North America from Ontario to Alabama and in northwestern North America from Utah to southern British Columbia. The establishment of O. melanopus in western North America has raised concern that its presence is a potential risk to the Canadian cereal industry, especially in the prairie ecozone of western Canada, where up to 10 million hectares of cereal crops are grown annually. Field surveys to date have indicated that O. melanopus has not yet become established in this region. A CLIMEX(TM)model for O. melanopus in North America was developed, based on climate and ecological parameters, and validated with actual distribution records. The actual distribution of O. melanopus in eastern North America matched the predicted distribution well. The model predicts that, once introduced, O. melanopus would readily survive in the cereal-growing areas of western Canada and present a significant risk to cereal production. The potential for establishment of O. melanopus in the prairie ecozone of western Canada substantiates the efforts by regulatory agencies to prevent accidental introduction of this pest species.
  • Authors:
    • Clayton, G. W.
    • Harker, K. N.
    • Soon, Y. K.
  • Source: Soil Science Society of America Journal
  • Volume: 68
  • Issue: 2
  • Year: 2004
  • Summary: We evaluated weed competition effects on the N economy of field pea (Pisum sativum L.) and the subsequent crop to address the paucity of such information. Plots were seeded to pea, canola (Brassica napus L.) and barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) in 1997 and 1998. Weeds, augmented by cross-seeding experimental plots with oat (Avena sativa L.), were removed with herbicides one and four weeks after crop emergence (WAE). The subsequent barley crop received 0 or 6 g N m(-2). Mean percentage of N derived from the atmosphere (%Ndfa) for the 2 yr, estimated by N-15 isotopic dilution, was 81% for the 4-WAE treatment and 51% for the 1-WAE treatment, indicating that a pea plant subjected to greater weed competition derived more of its N from symbiotic fixation. Total N fixed by pea was not affected by the time of weed removal, however, and total N uptake and seed yield were greater with early weed removal due to less competition for soil N. Early weed removal resulted in net N export in pea seeds (because of higher production) while later weed removal resulted in gains of 1.1 to 1.3 g N m(-2). However, time of weed removal during pea cultivation had no effect on the yield or N uptake of the subsequent barley crop. Higher barley yield and N uptake following pea than following barley were mostly the result of greater N availability. Nitrogen fertilization benefited the subsequent barley regardless of preceding crop type.
  • Authors:
    • Sweeney, D. W.
    • Moyer, J. L.
  • Source: Agronomy Journal
  • Volume: 96
  • Issue: 2
  • Year: 2004
  • Summary: With renewed interest in legumes as green manures, it is important to understand their effect on in-season N uptake of following non-legume row crops. This study assessed the effect of legumes as green manures on in-season N uptake by subsequent grain sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] grown in conservation tillage systems in the eastern Great Plains. Treatments were (i) red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) and hairy vetch (Vicia villosa Roth) before grain sorghum vs. continuous grain sorghum, (ii) reduced or no-tillage, and (iii) fertilizer N rates. The experiment was conducted on two adjacent sites (Parson silt loam: fine, mixed thermic Mollic Albaqualf) similar in organic matter but Site 1 higher in pH, P, and K than Site 2. In-season N uptake was often statistically greater in reduced-tillage than no-tillage systems. At both sites, red clover as a previous crop resulted in about 25% greater N uptake by sorghum vs. sorghum grown continuously with no previous legume crop. Nitrogen uptake by sorghum at the boot and soft dough growth stages responded linearly to increasing N rate, but the slope was 135 kg ha(-1) during the first year for both legumes at each site, but values for red clover remained greater than those for hairy vetch in subsequent years, especially at the higher fertility site. Grain yield tended to be maximized when N uptake at the soft dough stage exceeded 100 kg ha(-1) at Site 2 but continued to increase as N uptake increased at the higher-fertility Site 1. Utilizing legumes as green manures can increase in-season N uptake by following grain sorghum crops compared with continuous sorghum in these prairie soils.
  • Authors:
    • Varlev, I.
  • Source: Bulgarian Journal of Agricultural Science
  • Volume: 10
  • Issue: 1
  • Year: 2004
  • Summary: Long-term data (13-18 years) from 15 experimental farms were used to evaluate quantitatively the risk of maize cultivation on drylands in different regions of Bulgaria. Results established that the risk of maize cultivation on drylands in north Bulgaria seldom surpasses 10% of the years. Losses in south Bulgaria cover 20-70% of the years. Only on soils of high water-holding capacity is the risk close to 20%.