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Agronomy and Crop Sciences

Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports

2020

Dryland

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Long-Term Cover Crop Management Effects On Soil Health In Semiarid Dryland Cropping Systems, L. M. Simon, A. K. Obour, J. D. Holman, K. L. Roozeboom Jan 2020

Long-Term Cover Crop Management Effects On Soil Health In Semiarid Dryland Cropping Systems, L. M. Simon, A. K. Obour, J. D. Holman, K. L. Roozeboom

Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports

Growing cover crops (CC) in semiarid drylands may provide benefits to soil health. This study examined long-term CC management effects in a no-till winter wheat-grain sorghum-fallow cropping system in southwest Kansas. Objectives were to assess the impacts of CCs on 1) soil organic carbon (SOC) and nitrogen (N) stocks, 2) soil susceptibility to erosion, as well as to 3) quantify the effects of haying cover crops as annual forages. Treatments were spring-planted and included peas for grain as well as one-, three-, and six-species CC mixtures of oats, triticale, peas, buckwheat, turnips, and radishes compared with conventional chemical-fallow. Half of …


Dual Use Of Cover Crops For Forage Production And Soil Health In Dryland Crop Production, A. K. Obour, J. D. Holman, L. M. Simon, S. K. Johnson Jan 2020

Dual Use Of Cover Crops For Forage Production And Soil Health In Dryland Crop Production, A. K. Obour, J. D. Holman, L. M. Simon, S. K. Johnson

Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports

Integrating a cover crop (CC) into dryland crop production in the semiarid central Great Plains (CGP) can provide several ecosystem benefits. However, CC adoption is slow and not widely popular in the CGP because CCs utilize water that other­wise would be available for the subsequent cash crop. Grazing or haying CCs can provide economic benefits to offset revenue loss associated with decreased crop yields when CCs are grown ahead of a cash crop. Objectives of the current research were to 1) determine forage production of CC mixtures, and 2) evaluate the impacts of removing CCs for forage on subsequent crop …


Dryland Sorghum Nitrogen Management: Implications For Utilization As Ethanol Feedstock, K. A. Gehl, L. Haag, J. Warren, S. Sharma, P. J. Tomlinson Jan 2020

Dryland Sorghum Nitrogen Management: Implications For Utilization As Ethanol Feedstock, K. A. Gehl, L. Haag, J. Warren, S. Sharma, P. J. Tomlinson

Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports

A study was initiated in 2018 to collect preliminary data to quantify nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from dryland grain sorghum in western Kansas. Results indicate that the greatest flux of N2O occurred within the first 14 days after fertilization when plant uptake was minimal and soil moisture was elevated. During this time period, the timing and amount of rainfall was critical with respect to N2O flux. Nitrous oxide flux during the fallow phase was negligible. The cumulative emissions factor for fertilizer-derived N2O estimated for Colby (~0.3%) is well below the Intergovernmental Panel …


Water Use And Productivity Of Corn And Grain Sorghum In Long-Term Crop Sequences, R. M. Aiken Jan 2020

Water Use And Productivity Of Corn And Grain Sorghum In Long-Term Crop Sequences, R. M. Aiken

Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports

Dryland corn and grain sorghum showed similar water productivity of grain and above-ground biomass, relative to respective growing periods, at the apparent yield frontier. The yield frontier indicates the maximum productivity for a given amount of water use. This similarity in productive response to water supply provides a foundation for improved precipitation use. Yield gaps relative to the yield frontier appear substan­tial. Water supply during the grain filling period was the primary driver of feed grain crop productivity, and was affected more by available soil water at pollen shed than by precipitation during grain-fill or available water at maturity. Grain …