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1999 STEEP III Final ReportRESEARCH PROJECT TITLE: Agronomic and Economic Evaluation of New Cropping Systems and Their Components FINAL REPORT INVESTIGATORS:
PROJECT OBJECTIVES:
KEY WORDS: Alternative crops, soybeans, sorghum, narrow-leaf lupins. STATEMENT OF PROBLEM: Winter wheat-fallow
cropping rotations are particularly prone to soil degradation and erosion
in the inland Pacific Northwest, and are becoming increasingly unsustainable
in terms of soil conservation and economics. There is a clear need to
move to more profitable cropping rotations which reduce or eliminate fallow
and reduce tillage, and are thereby less deleterious to the region's soils.
Introduction of a suitable rotation crop to reduce or eliminate summer
fallow could improve farm profitability and soil conservation. However,
economic evaluations made in 1998 of long-term crop rotation data from
the Pendleton experiment station have shown that there are few, if any
rotations that are as agronomically and economically stable as winter
wheat/summer fallow rotations (Payne, 1998). ZONE OF INTEREST: Dry, medium and high rainfall zones. ABSTRACT OF RESEARCH FINDINGS: Evaluation of a range of alternative crops was made for a second year at Moro and Pendleton experiment stations. Expanded experiments were conducted on-farm and at Pendleton for sorghum, narrow-leaf lupins and soybeans to determine optimum genotype or agronomic practices. Results were overall consistent with those of 1998. In 1999, rainfall and temperature were unusually low in Northeast Oregon. As a result, soybean yield was very low, but the trend of later maturity groups outyielding earlier ones continued. Despite unfavorable weather, four commercially available sorghum hybrids had yields of about 3500 lbs per acre. Narrow-leaf lupin yield varied according to site, variety, planting rate, and planting date. As we learn more about this new grain legume crop, it continues to show outstanding promise as an alternative crop for wheat-based cropping systems. Dairy feeding trials with narrow-leaf lupin as the protein source are currently under way at Corvallis in an attempt to stimulate market demand, and arrangements are being made to increase seed availability. Finally, a detailed economic model to evaluate profitability of alternative cropping systems has been completed and is fully operational. It is currently being used to evaluate "what-if" scenarios to design more profitable rotations. Documentation is being written for eventual dissemination with the model. RESULTS AND INTERPRETATION: During the 1998 and 1999 growing seasons, experiments were conducted at the Pendleton and Moro experiment stations to evaluate a range of new alternative crops for their potential as a rotation crop in wheat-based cropping systems of the inland Pacific Northwest. Crops evaluated included pigeon pea, two teff varieties, four white lupin varieties, four narrow-leaf lupin varieties, four soybean varieties, two sorghum varieties, four corn varieties, pearl millet, and proso millet. In addition, based on promising results obtained in 1998, expanded experiments were conducted in 1999 with a range of soybean, sorghum and narrow-leaf lupin genotypes with a view towards establishing the best maturity groups and, for sorghum and narrow-leaf lupins, optimum agronomic practices. For some 1999 experiments, sample processing and data analysis are not yet complete, but some preliminary results can be given. Consistent with experiments conducted in 1998 at Moro and Pendleton Stations, pigeon pea, pearl millet, and teff had very poor emergence and little to no yield. Corn and early (maturity group 0) soybean varieties had very low yields. Also consistent with 1998 results, sorghum, proso millet and narrow-leaf lupins had satisfactory to good yields. Contrary to 1998 results, in which no yield was obtained, white lupins had acceptable yields at Pendleton in 1999. New, more detailed experiments were conducted in 1999 with the most promising crops from the 1998 experiments, namely, narrow-leaf lupin, soybeans, and sorghum. More detailed work with proso millet has not been attempted due to perceived limited market opportunities, but it may hold some potential for growers who have niche markets and are interested in extremely drought tolerant crops. Based on a grower's success in 1998 with an unconventionally late soybean maturity group, we evaluated round-up soybeans of maturity groups 2.54 (latest), 2.45 and 1.95 (earliest). Because of unfavorable weather, yield was poor for all varieties. However, consistent with 1998 results, latest varieties had the greatest average yield (592 lbs/acre). We speculate this is due to deeper rooting systems associated with later crops. Overall it was a very disappointing year for dryland soybeans in the Pendleton area. This experiment will be repeated once more. We completed detailed on-farm experiments with five narrow-leaf lupin varieties at Lexington, Condon, and Helix under no-till conditions. In addition to site and variety, experimental treatments included three planting rates and three planting dates. Yield data for this experiment are still being analyzed, but preliminary results suggest that early seeding of early varieties at a rate of 150 lbs/acre gives greatest yield. Narrow-leaf lupins were tested informally at a number of other sites this year, including Lind, WA, which was very dry, and Adams, OR. At Adams, yields of 2000 lb/acre were obtained despite low rainfall using the variety Merritt. Additional work with narrow-leaf lupins has been undertaken in an effort to learn more about how this crop might fit into real-world farming systems. Dr. Dan Ball is evaluating the effectiveness for weed control of a range of herbicides. Various combine setups, including the use of air reels and stripper headers, have been informally examined to reduce harvest loss. Informal feeding trials have been tried with cattle, sheep and pigs. A formal dairy-feeding trial is currently underway within the Animal Science Dept. of OSU to compare quantity and quality of milk production of canola-based feed to narrow-leaf lupin-based feed. It is scheduled to be completed by the end of November. Our hope is to stimulate market demand for locally grown, high quality protein in the growing dairy industry. We are currently making arrangements with Australian industry to ensure seed availability in this region. Two additional sorghum experiments were conducted at Pendleton this year. In the first, 48 sorghum entries from around the world, including the highlands of Ethiopia, China and South Africa, were examined for emergence and establishment characteristics. Our goal was to identify sources of seedling cold tolerance. Entries included landraces, breeding lines, and commercially available hybrids. Emergence and establishment data are still being analyzed, but there were clearly genetic differences. In a second experiment, the effects of four sowing rates on yield of two red sorghum hybrids were examined. These results suggest that these semi-dwarf hybrids to respond strongly to increased sowing rate. Within these two experiments, we identified two commercially available hybrids with sufficient seedling vigor to establish well despite cool spring conditions, and to yield over 3500 lb/acre. We see enormous potential in the Pendleton area for dryland sorghum, and feel that further yield improvements are possible as we select for increased seedling cold tolerance and learn more agronomic practices, including sowing rate and nitrogen response. Thus far we have
mainly focused upon cropping system components, rather than placing these
components together to form better cropping systems. We are now at the
stage where we can better design rotation experiments with these new crop
components, and evaluate their economic performance relative to traditional,
tillage intensive winter wheat/summer fallow rotations. To guide us and
others in making decisions regarding optimal crop rotations for a given
farm, we have extensively further developed the prototype model presented
in detail at last year's STEEP meeting. We are currently conducting "what-if"
simulations using the model to select best-bet cropping systems that may
be able to outperform winter wheat/summer fallow. We are also currently
preparing documentation for the model so that it can soon be distributed
for use by interested growers or researchers. INTERACTION WITH OTHER SCIENTISTS CONDUCTING RELATED ACTIVITY: Tested narrow-leaf lupins at Lind thanks to Bill Schillinger. Cooperated with Dan Ball for herbicide experiments, and with Don Wysocki for sorghum sowing density trials. Dick Smiley has helped with disease assessment in narrow-leaf lupins. Pat French (Dairy Nutrionist, OSU Animal Science Dept) is conducting dairy feeding trials. Dale Wilkins has helped with ideas on reducing harvest loss with narrow-leaf lupins, including use of stripper header PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS: Presented talk on narrow-leaf lupins at Moro, OR, and Lind, WA. Experiment Stations. Presentation on alternative crops at 1999 STEEP meeting. |
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