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Evaluating Decision Rules For Dryland Rotation Crop Selection, David C. Nielsen, Merle F. Vigil, Joseph G. Benjamin

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

No-till dryland winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)-fallow systems in the central Great Plains have more water available for crop production than the traditional conventionally tilled winter wheat-fallow systems because of greater precipitation storage efficiency. That additional water is used most efficiently when a crop is present to transpire the water, and crop yields respond positively to increases in available soil water. The objective of this study was to evaluate yield, water use efficiency (WUE), precipitation use efficiency (PUE), and net returns of cropping systems where crop choice was based on established crop responses to water use while incorporating a …