Agronomy and Crop Sciences Commons^™

Estimating Annual Forage Yields With Plant Available Water And Growing Season Precipitation, J. Holman, A. Obour, A. Schlegel, T. Roberts, S. Maxwell

Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports

Forage production is important for the western Kansas region’s livestock and dairy industries and has become increasingly important as irrigation-well capacity declines. Forages require less water than grain crops and may allow for increased cropping intensity and opportunistic cropping. Being able to estimate forage production is important for determining forage availability versus forage needs. Data from several studies were used to quantify annual forage yield response to plant available water (PAW) at planting and growing season precipitation (GSP). In addition, water use efficiency was quantified. Forages evaluated included winter triticale, spring triticale, and forage sorghum.

Southeast Kansas Crop Production Summary - 2019, G. F. Sassenrath, L. Mengarelli, J. Lingenfelser, X. Lin, E. Adee

Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports

This is a summary of the crop production conditions in southeast Kansas in 2019, and the results of the variety testing for corn, soybean, sorghum, sunflower, and wheat.

Occasional Tillage And Nitrogen Application Effects On Winter Wheat And Grain Sorghum Yield, Augustine K. Obour, John D. Holman, Alan J. Schlegel

Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports

Occasional tillage ahead of winter wheat planting could alleviate herbicide-resistant weeds, redistribute soil acidification, and improve seedbed at wheat planting. The objec­tive of this study was to determine occasional tillage and nitrogen (N) fertilizer ap­plication effects on winter wheat, and grain sorghum yields and soil quality in a wheat-sorghum-fallow cropping system. Treatments were three tillage practices: 1) continuous no-tillage (NT); 2) continuous reduced-tillage (RT); and 3) single tillage operation every 3 years (June-July) ahead of winter wheat planting [occasional tillage (OT)]. The sub-plot treatments were assigned to four N fertilizer rates (0, 40, 80, and 120 lb/a of N). Results …

Kansas Fertilizer Research 2020, D. A. Ruiz Diaz

Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports

A summary of research conducted in 2018-2020 on fertilizer use and management practices for crops in Kansas. Published in 2020 from the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Servicehttps://www.ag.k-state.edu/.

Voxel Carving-Based 3d Reconstruction Of Sorghum Identifies Genetic Determinants Of Light Interception Efficiency, Mathieu Gaillard, Chenyong Miao, James Schnable, Bedrich Benes

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Changes in canopy architecture traits have been shown to contribute to yield increases. Optimizing both light interception and light interception efficiency of agricultural crop canopies will be essential to meeting the growing food needs. Canopy architecture is inherently three-dimensional (3D), but many approaches to measuring canopy architecture component traits treat the canopy as a two-dimensional (2D) structure to make large scale measurement, selective breeding, and gene identification logistically feasible. We develop a high throughput voxel carving strategy to reconstruct 3D representations of sorghum from a small number of RGB photos. Our approach builds on the voxel carving algorithm to allow …

Introduction To Sorghum Paper Production, Zachary Christman

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Sorghum is a tall grass used for many commercial products such as fodder and syrup. The 10 to 15 feet stalk of the plant has lower lignin than wood and provides a fiber length of 2.31 mm in the outer covering and 1.38 mm for the leaf. Sorghum fiber makes a high quality, strong paper suitable for printing, packaging and paperboard.

Global Responses Of Resistant And Susceptible Sorghum (Sorghum Bicolor) To Sugarcane Aphid (Melanaphis Sacchari), Hannah M. Tetreault, Sajjan Grover, Erin Scully, Tammy Gries, Nathan A. Palmer, Gautam Sarath, Joe Louis, Scott E. Sattler

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

The sugarcane aphid (Melanaphis sacchari) has emerged as a significant pest for sorghum. The use of sugarcane aphid-resistant sorghum germplasm with integrated pest management strategies appears to be an excellent solution to this problem. In this study, a resistant line (RTx2783) and a susceptible line (A/BCK60) were used to characterize the differences in plant responses to the sugarcane aphid through a series of experiments, which examined global sorghum gene expression, aphid feeding behavior and inheritance of aphid resistance. The global transcriptomic responses to sugarcane aphids in resistant and susceptible plants were identified using RNA-seq and compared to the …

Southeast Kansas Crop Production Summary – 2018, G. F. Sassenrath, L. Mengarelli, J. Lingenfelser, X. Lin

Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports

This is a summary of the crop production conditions in southeast Kansas in 2018, and the results of the variety testing for corn, soybean, sorghum, sunflower, and wheat.

Determining Profitable Forage Rotations, J. Holman, A. Obour, A. Schlegel, T. Roberts, S. Maxwell

Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports

Annual forages are an important crop in the High Plains, yet the region lacks recommended annual forage rotations compared to those developed for grain crops. Forages are important for the region’s livestock and dairy industries and are becoming increasingly important as irrigation capacity and grain prices decrease. Forages require less water than grain crops and may allow for increased cropping system intensity and op-opportunistic cropping. A study was initiated in 2012 at the Southwest Research-Extension Center near Garden City, KS, comparing several 1-, 3-, and 4-year forage rotations with no-tillage and minimum-tillage. Data presented are from 2013 through 2018. Tillage …

Engineering Linear, Branched-Chain Triterpene Metabolism In Monocots, Chase Kempinski, Zuodong Jiang, Garrett Zinck, Shirley J. Sato, Zhengxiang Ge, Thomas E. Clemente, Joseph Chappell

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Triterpenes are thirty-carbon compounds derived from the universal five-carbon prenyl precursors isopentenyl diphosphate (IPP) and dimethylallyl diphosphate (DMAPP). Normally, triterpenes are synthesized via the mevalonate (MVA) pathway operating in the cytoplasm of eukaryotes where DMAPP is condensed with two IPPs to yield farnesyl diphosphate (FPP), catalyzed by FPP synthase (FPS). Squalene synthase (SQS) condenses two molecules of FPP to generate the symmetrical product squalene, the first committed precursor to sterols and most other triterpenes. In the green algae Botryococcus braunii, two FPP molecules can also be condensed in an asymmetric manner yielding the more highly branched triterpene, botryococcene. Botryococcene …

Biomass Production Of Herbaceous Energy Crops In The United States: Field Trial Results And Yield Potential Maps From The Multiyear Regional Feedstock Partnership, Do Kyoung Lee, Ezra Aberle, Erik K. Anderson, William Anderson, Brian S. Baldwin, David Baltensperger, Michael Barrett, Jürg Blumenthal, Stacy Bonos, Joe Bouton, David I. Bransby, Charlie Brummer, Pane S. Burks, Chengci Chen, Christopher Daly, Josh Egenolf, Rodney L. Farris, John H. Fike, Roch Gaussoin, John R. Gill, Kenneth Gravois, Michael D. Halbleib, Anna Hale, Wayne Hanna, Keith Harmoney, Emily A. Heaton, Ron W. Heiniger, Lindsey Hoffman, Chang O. Hong, Gopal Kakani, David Williams, Linda Williams

Plant and Soil Sciences Faculty Publications

Current knowledge of yield potential and best agronomic management practices for perennial bioenergy grasses is primarily derived from small‐scale and short‐term studies, yet these studies inform policy at the national scale. In an effort to learn more about how bioenergy grasses perform across multiple locations and years, the U.S. Department of Energy (US DOE)/Sun Grant Initiative Regional Feedstock Partnership was initiated in 2008. The objectives of the Feedstock Partnership were to (1) provide a wide range of information for feedstock selection (species choice) and management practice options for a variety of regions and (2) develop national maps of potential feedstock …

Stored Grain Pack Factor Measurements For Soybeans, Grain Sorghum, Oats, Barley, And Wheat, Rumela Bhadra, Mark E. Casada, Aaron P. Turner, Michael D. Montross, Sidney A. Thompson, Samuel G. Mcneill, Ronaldo G. Maghirang, Josephine M. Boac

Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications

Grain and oilseed crops stored in bins undergo compaction due to overbearing pressure of the grain inside the structure. Thus, volume measurements of grain in bins need to be combined with the amount of packing (usually called pack factor) in addition to the initial density so that the mass in the structure can be calculated. Multiple pack factor prediction methods are in use in the grain industry, but they have only been validated in the literature and compared with field data for corn and hard red winter wheat. Predictions from WPACKING, the program in ASABE Standard EP413.2, and two standard …

Biomass Production Of Herbaceous Energy Crops In The United States: Field Trial Results And Yield Potential Maps From The Multiyear Regional Feedstock Partnership, Dokyoung Lee, Ezra Aberle, Eric K. Anderson, William Anderson, Brian S. Baldwin, David D. Baltensperger, Michael Barrett, Jurg Blumenthal, Stacy Bonos, Joe Bouton, David I. Bransby, Charlie Brummer, Pane S. Burks, Chengci Chen, Christopher Daly, Jose Egenolf, Rodney L. Farris, John H. Fike, Roch E. Gaussoin, John R. Gill, Kenneth Gravois, Michael D. Halbleib, Anna Hale, Wayne Hanna, Keith Harmoney, Emily A. Heaton, Ron W. Heiniger, Lindsey Hoffman, Chang O. Hong, Gopal Kakani, Robert Kallenbach, Bisoondat Macoon, James C. Medley, Ali Missaoui, Robert B. Mitchell, Ken J. Moore, Jesse I. Morrison, Gary N. Odvody, Jonathan D. Richwine, Richard Ogoshi, Jimmy Ray Parrish, Lauren Quinn, Ed Richard, William L. Rooney, J. Brett Rushing, Ronnie Schnell, Matt Sousek, Scott A. Staggenborg, Thomas Tew, Goro Uehara, Donald R. Viands, Thomas Voigt, David Williams, Linda Williams, Lloyd Ted Wilson, Andrew Wycislo, Yubin Yang, Vance Owens

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Current knowledge of yield potential and best agronomic management practices for perennial bioenergy grasses is primarily derived from small-scale and short-term studies, yet these studies inform policy at the national scale. In an effort to learn more about how bioenergy grasses perform across multiple locations and years, the U.S. Department of Energy (US DOE)/Sun Grant Initiative Regional Feedstock Partnership was initiated in 2008. The objectives of the Feedstock Partnership were to (1) provide a wide range of information for feedstock selection (species choice) and management practice options for a variety of regions and (2) develop national maps of potential feedstock …

Forage Type And Maturity Effects On Yield And Nutritive Value, J. D. Holman, A. Obour, T. Roberts, S. Maxwell

Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports

Forage sorghum (Sorghum bicolorL.) and sorghum × sudan (Sorghum bicolor sssp. Drummondii) are important annual forages in the High Plains. Advancements in brown mid-rib (BMR) cultivars will likely affect forage yield and nutritive values. A study was initiated in 2017 at the Southwest Research-Extension Center near Garden City, KS, comparing one variety each of BMR and non-BMR forage sorghum and sorghum × sudan cultivars. Forage type and growth stage affected yield and nutritive value, and occasionally there was an interaction between forage type and maturity.

Integrating Half Rates Of Dicamba And Atrazine With Increasing Sorghum Density And Nitrogen Rate For Palmer Amaranth Control, I. B. Cuvaca, A. J. Foster, R. Currie

Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports

Sorghum is an important crop in Kansas. However, in-season weed control options for sorghum are limited. This limitation is exacerbated by Palmer amaranth season-long interference and resistance to multiple herbicide modes of action.

This 2-year study investigated the ability of a contrasting combination of cultural and chemical practices to control Palmer amaranth while maintaining or improving sorghum grain yield. Particular research emphasis was to evaluate the effect(s) of integrating half rates of dicamba and atrazine applied as PRE with increasing sorghum density and nitrogen rate on Palmer amaranth control and grain yield in an irrigated environment.

Msh1-Mediated Non-Genetic Phenotypic Variation In Plants: Prospects For Epigenetic Breeding In Sorghum Bicolor, Dikungwa Ketumile

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Sorghum is the fifth most important cereal crop grown in the world, and is the primary staple food for many people in developing countries. Like other major crops, its improvement is constrained by depletion of genetic diversity within breeding germplasm. Investigated in this study is the unique creation of non-genetic phenotypic variation through altering MutS Homolog1 (MSH1), a plant-specific gene, and the potential it presents for sorghum improvement. Suppression of MSH1 results in non-genetic developmental reprogramming. The derived MSH1 memory lines, when used in crossing, result in heritable phenotypic variation that enhances plant vigor and agronomic performance. A …

Palmer Amaranth (Amaranthus Palmeri) Suppression With Half Rates Of Dicamba And Atrazine With Increasing Sorghum (Sorghum Bicolor) Density And Nitrogen Rate, I. B. Cuvaca, R. Currie, A. J. Foster

Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports

Palmer amaranth (PA) competition can result in severe yield loss in grain sorghum. Increasing sorghum density and nutrient supply could promote early/rapid canopy closure and therefore reduce the amount of light that could otherwise penetrate the canopy and promote PA growth in sorghum. A study was conducted at the Southwest Research-Extension Center near Garden City, KS, to determine if PA could be suppressed with dicamba and atrazine applied as PRE at half rates combined with increasing sorghum density (60,000, 90,000, and 120,000 seeds/a), and nitrogen rate (0, 100, 200 lb/a). Preliminary results indicate that increasing plant density and nitrogen rate …

Interaction Of Seeding And Nitrogen Rate On Grain Sorghum Yield In Southwest Kansas, A. J. Foster, A. Schlegel, J. D. Holman, I. A. Ciampitti, C. Thompson, D. Ruiz Diaz

Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports

This study compared drilled planted sorghum at four seeding rates to planted sorghum at three different nitrogen (N) fertility levels at two locations in southwest Kansas (Garden City and Tribune). At the Garden City location, no difference was observed in yield among the drilled seeded sorghum populations greater than 27,000 seeds/a compared to the standard planted sorghum (sorghum planted at 27,000 seeds/a with a planter at 30 in.-row spacing). At Tribune, there was no difference in yield between the drilled sorghum and the standard planted sorghum (sorghum planted at 40,000 seeds/a with a planter at 30 in.-row spacing) regardless of …

A Comprehensive Analysis Of Alternative Splicing In Paleopolyploid Maize, Wenbin Mei, Sanzhen Liu, James C. Schnable, Cheng-Ting Yeh, Nathan M. Springer, Patrick S. Schnable, William Brad Barbazuk

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Identifying and characterizing alternative splicing (AS) enables our understanding of the biological role of transcript isoform diversity. This study describes the use of publicly available RNA-Seq data to identify and characterize the global diversity of AS isoforms in maize using the inbred lines B73 and Mo17, and a related species, sorghum. Identification and characterization of AS within maize tissues revealed that genes expressed in seed exhibit the largest differential AS relative to other tissues examined. Additionally, differences in AS between the two genotypes B73 and Mo17 are greatest within genes expressed in seed. We demonstrate that changes in the level …

Field-Observed Angles Of Repose For Stored Grain In The United States, Rumela Bhadra, Mark E. Casada, Sidney A. Thompson, Josephine M. Boac, Ronaldo G. Maghirang, Michael D. Montross, Aaron P. Turner, Samuel G. Mcneill

Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications

Bulk grain angle of repose (AoR) is a key parameter for inventorying grain, predicting flow characteristics, and designing bins and grain handling systems. The AoR is defined for two cases, piling (dynamic) or emptying (static), and usually varies with grain type. The objective of this study was to measure piling angles of repose for corn, sorghum, barley, soybeans, oats, and hard red winter (HRW) wheat in steel and concrete bins in the United States. Angles were measured in 182 bins and 7 outdoor piles. The piling AoR for corn ranged from 15.7° to 30.2° (median of 20.4° and standard deviation …

Expression Of The Maize Dof1 Transcription Factor In Wheat And Sorghum, Pamela A. Pena, Truyen Quach, Shirley Sato, Zhengxiang Ge, Natalya Nersesian, Taity Changa, Ismail M. Dweikat, Madhavan Soundararajan, Tom E. Clemente

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Nitrogen is essential for plant growth and development. Improving the ability of plants to acquire and assimilate nitrogen more efficiently is a key agronomic parameter that will augment sustainability in agriculture. A transcription factor approach was pursued to address improvement of nitrogen use efficiency in two major commodity crops. To this end, the Zea mays Dof1 (ZmDof1) transcription factor was expressed in both wheat (Triticum aestivum) and sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) either constitutively, UBI4 promoter from sugarcane, or in a tissue specific fashion via the maize rbcS1 promoter. The primary transcription activation target of ZmDof1 …

Interaction Of Seeding And Nitrogen Rate On Grain Sorghum Yield In Southwest Kansas, A. J. Foster, A. Schlegel, J. D. Holman, I. A. Ciampitti, C. Thompson, Dorivar Ruiz Diaz

Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports

This study compared drilled planted sorghum at four seeding rates to planted sorghum at three different nitrogen (N) fertility levels at two locations in southwest Kansas (Garden City and Tribune). At the Garden City location, no difference was observed in yield among the drilled seeded sorghum populations greater than 27,000 seeds/a compared to the standard planted sorghum (sorghum planted at 27,000 seeds/a with a planter at 30 in.-row spacing). At Tribune, there was no difference in yield between the drilled sorghum and the standard planted sorghum (sorghum planted at 40,000 seeds/a with a planter at 30 in.-row spacing) regardless of …

Palmer Amaranth (Amaranthus Palmeri) Suppression With Half Rates Of Dicamba And Atrazine With Increasing Sorghum (Sorghum Bicolor) Density And Nitrogen Rate, I. B. Cuvaca, R. Currie, A. J. Foster

Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports

Palmer amaranth (PA) competition can result in severe yield loss in grain sorghum. Increasing sorghum density and nutrient supply could promote early/rapid canopy closure and therefore reduce the amount of light that could otherwise penetrate the canopy and promote PA growth in sorghum. A study was conducted at the Southwest Research-Extension Center near Garden City, KS, to determine if PA could be suppressed with dicamba and atrazine applied as PRE at half rates combined with increasing sorghum density (60,000, 90,000, and 120,000 seeds/a), and nitrogen rate (0, 100, 200 lb/a). Preliminary results indicate that increasing plant density and nitrogen rate …

Validation Of Qtl Mapping And Transcriptome Profiling For Identification Of Candidate Genes Associated With Nitrogen Stress Tolerance In Sorghum, Malleswari Gelli, Anji Reddy Konda, Kan Liu, Chi Zhang, Thomas E. Clemente, David R. Holding, Ismail M. Dweikat

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Background: Quantitative trait loci (QTLs) detected in one mapping population may not be detected in other mapping populations at all the time. Therefore, before being used for marker assisted breeding, QTLs need to be validated in different environments and/or genetic backgrounds to rule out statistical anomalies. In this regard, we mapped the QTLs controlling various agronomic traits in a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population in response to Nitrogen (N) stress and validated these with the reported QTLs in our earlier study to find the stable and consistent QTLs across populations. Also, with Illumina RNA-sequencing we checked the differential expression of …

Balanced Nutrition And Crop Production Practices For Closing Sorghum Yield Gaps, B. Mchenry, Eric Adee, J. Kimball, P. V. Vara Prasad, I. A. Ciampitti

Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports

In order to study how diverse cropping system approaches influence grain sorghum productivity, field experiments were conducted in Topeka, KS at the Kansas River Valley Experiment Field; and in Ottawa, KS at the East Central Kansas Experiment Field. The primary objective of this study was to understand how to close yield gaps between the current on-farm yields and the maximum attainable yields. The factors that were tested include narrow row spacing; high and low plant population; balanced nutrition practices, including various timings of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (N-P-K); micronutrient applications of iron and zinc (Fe and Zn); crop protection with …

Large-Scale Dryland Cropping Systems, A. Schlegel, L. Haag, D. O'Brien

Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports

This study was conducted from 2008 to 2015 at the Kansas State University Southwest Research-Extension Center near Tribune, Kansas. The crop rotations evaluated were continuous grain sorghum (SS), wheat-fallow (WF), wheat-corn-fallow (WCF), wheat-sorghum-fallow (WSF), wheat-corn-sorghum-fallow (WCSF), and wheat-sorghum-corn-fallow (WSCF). All rotations were grown using no-till practices except for WF, which was grown using reduced-tillage. Precipitation capture efficiency was not greater with more intensive rotations. Wheat yields were not affected by length of rotation. Corn and grain sorghum yields were about 60% greater when following wheat than when following corn or grain sorghum. Grain sorghum yields were almost twice as great …

2015 Crop Performance In Southeast Kansas, Gretchen Sassenrath, Jane Lingenfelser, L. Mengarelli, X. Lin

Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports

Crop variety testing determines the production potential of newly released crop cultivars in Southeast Kansas. The genetic potential is moderated by environmental conditions during the growing season as well as soil productive capacity.

Development Of A Berry Processing Score For Sorghum Silage, J. R. Johnson, J. P. Goeser, Michael Brouk

Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports

This study was done in an effort to develop a berry processing score (BPS) for sorghum silage, similar to the kernel processing score (KPS) currently used for corn silage. Sorghum silage samples were collected from 3 dairies in Kansas and processed in the Grain Science & Industry grain processing laboratory at Kansas State University using one of four different roll gap settings to give four differently processed samples: unprocessed, 1.5, 1.0, or 0.5 mm. After drying, samples were placed into a Ro-Tap particle separation machine for 10 minutes until the whole sample was separated. Whole samples, as well as separated …

Mapping Qtls And Association Of Differentially Expressed Gene Transcripts For Multiple Agronomic Traits Under Different Nitrogen Levels In Sorghum, Malleswari Gelli, Sharon E. Mitchell, Kan Liu, Thomas E. Clemente, Donald P. Weeks, Chi Zhang, David R. Holding, Ismail M. Dweikat

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Background: Sorghum is an important C₄ crop which relies on applied Nitrogen fertilizers (N) for optimal yields, of which substantial amounts are lost into the atmosphere. Understanding the genetic variation of sorghum in response to limited nitrogen supply is important for elucidating the underlying genetic mechanisms of nitrogen utilization.

Results: A bi-parental mapping population consisting of 131 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) was used to map quantitative trait loci (QTLs) influencing different agronomic traits evaluated under normal N (100 kg.ha⁻¹ fertilizer) and low N (0 kg.ha⁻¹ fertilizer) conditions. A linkage map spanning 1614 cM was developed …

Grain Sorghum Yield Response To Water Availability, J. P. Broeckelman, G. J. Kluitenberg, K. Roozeboom, I. A. Ciampitti

Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports

Yield effects of irrigation on sorghum and corn were compared, focusing only on the grain sorghum phase. Average water use for irrigation was 22 in., and dryland sorghum used 17 in. Average yields based on 12.5% grain moisture for dryland and irrigated sorghum were similar, with 138 bu/a for the irrigated and 142 bu/a for the dryland environment. Irrigated sorghum yields were similar, but in dryland, the Pioneer 84G62 hybrid yielded 149 bu/a, a 10 bu/a increase over Pioneer 84Y50 and DKS 53-67 hybrids, which yielded 139 bu/a and 138 bu/a, respectively. Although there was a difference in the yield …