Agronomy of crops and pasturesIncitec Pivot at Lincoln University

Derrick Moot

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

21 August 2017

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63% Mountain and hill countryPh

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13% Inland basinsPh

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Brown & Naish, GNS pers. Comm.

High variability over short spaces

The sediment load of Canterbury rivers is 10x the global average

Soil water extraction - WakanuiPh

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0 10 20 30

Soil

dept

h (m

)

0

1

2

Water extraction (mm)

WakanuiLismore

133 mm

328 mm

Soil water extraction

Deep Wakanui soil has 200 mm more

available water

Moot et al. 2008

Climate Explorer NIWA, 2010

Climate

Median rainfall (mm)(1971-2000)

2000140012001000900800700600500

mm

Unimproved scrub land on light soils

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Martin et al. 2006 NZGA

Dairy pasture

Water + nitrogen= ryegrass

Moot et al 2010; Department of Statistics

The population...deer & cattle

Year1990 1995 2000 2005 2010

Sto

ck n

umbe

rs (m

illion

s)

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0Beef cattle Dairy cattleDeer

Image provided by Ken Taylor ECAN

>465 000 ha of “light land”

UnconfinedConfinedSoils <0.45 m

6.9 mg/L

Annual Median Nitrate +NitriteHarts Creek

Year1995 2000 2005 2010 2015

Nitr

ate

and

Nitr

ite N

itrog

en (m

g/L)

(d

etec

tion

limits

hal

ved)

0

2

4

6

8

10

Data © Environment Canterbury

ECAN 2017

21% Flat undulating floodplain (fluvial megafans)

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~60% of the fresh and process peasPh

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Onions for export, 4000 ha of potatoes

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High values seed cropsLi

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10,000 ha clover seed for exportPh

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Herbage grass 1.5 - 2.5 t seed/ha

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Wine production in Nth Canterbury

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Policy & management questions

• What types of land uses, and

• How intensive can they be without exceeding agroundwater system’s limits? – nitrogen mgmt

• How might land be managed to maximizeprofitability and remain within the N limits?

i.e. How many dairy farms, potato farms, onion paddocks, market gardens, sheep paddocks… should be allowed on a “catchment”?

Nutrient availability

Temperature

Daylength

Solar radiation

Soil moisture/ Rain Irrigation

Fertilizer

Population

Sowing date

Cultivar

Mineral nutrition

Phenological development

Canopy development

Biomass accumulation

Partitioning

Yield QualityPROCESSES

ENVIRONMENT MANAGEMENT

Relationship between environment and management factors and the physiological processes that regulate crop yield and quality. (Source: Hay & Porter 2006).

Growth vs DevelopmentGrowth: an irreversible increase in DM

- function of light interception and - photosynthesis and then - assimilate partitioning

Development: irreversible change in the state of an organism

- fixed pattern and reversion is raree.g. silking,

pod initiation, dough development

Measurements

Lightenvironment

Photosynthesis

Soil moisture

Chemical Analysis:-N (shoots and roots)-Starch in roots-Soluble sugars in roots

Temperature- Air and soil

The canopy: the energy capture device

Crop Growth and Yield

1) C = E*Q C = daily rate of DM prod.E = radiation use efficiencyQ = PAR intercepted

2) Y = HI*C*dt Y = seed yield/unit areaHI = harvest index

Dryland

Irrigated

Total DM production (C) from successive harvests and intercepted PAR (Q) for field peas in 5 experiments in 4 seasons with different cultivars, sowing times and irrigation treatments.The form of the regression is: 2.36±0.03 g DM/MJ PAR (R2=0.97). Wilson 1987

C (g

m-2

)

0 300

300

600

600

150 450

900

1200

1500

Q (MJ m-2)

0

Light

- photosynthesis to produce CHO’s for growth.

- Photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) is in the visible range (400-700nm).

- Conversion of PAR to DM ~2.5 g DM /MJ/m2 for C3 plants~3.8 g DM /MJ/m2 for C4 plants

150

200 kg N/ha

anthesis

Control (0 N)

Days after crop emergence

Gre

en le

af a

rea

inde

x

6

3

00 300

100 kg N/ha

Green 1987

Light

Complex & dynamic signal

Quantity of lightphotons falling /area/time

Quality of lightplant responses

A) Vegetative

• Emergence and - temperature

• Leaf appearance rates (phyllochron)- temperature

B) Reproductive

• Time of flowering (anthesis), Temperature and photoperiod

• Duration of grain fill -temperature

Driven by temperature modified by photoperiod and vernalization

Plant development

Temperature

• Tt = Thermal time (°Cd)

= Tmax + Tmin - Tb

2

• Growing degree days (GDD) • Heat units (HU)

Sowing to emergence

Thermal time - soil

temperature~ 125-150 °Cd

Grain-filling: constant in thermal time –air temperature

Wheat 15 t/ha; 40,000 haBarley 13 t/ha; 40,000 ha

Year

1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014

Yiel

d (t

grai

n/ha

)

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

Wheat grain yields in Canterbury

Source: Cereal performance trialsFAR, Canterbury

Wheat yield = 0.2x – 391R2 = 0.81

Nutrient availability

Temperature

Daylength

Solar radiation

Soil moisture/ Rain Irrigation

Fertilizer

Population

Sowing date

Cultivar

Mineral nutrition

Phenological development

Canopy development

Biomass accumulation

Partitioning

Yield QualityPROCESSES

ENVIRONMENT MANAGEMENT

Relationship between environment and management factors and the physiological processes that regulate crop yield and quality. (Source: Hay & Porter 2006).

Olsen P<6

Olsen P>20

Drilling seed with fertiliserDirect drilling = seed + fertiliser

Kearney et al 2010

Rep 1Rep 2

Rep 3

Experiment sitePh

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Growth rates (2 year means)

MonthJ A S O N D J F M A M J J

Gro

wth

rate

(kg/

ha/d

)

0

30

60

90

120

I -N

9.8 t/ha

15.7 t/ha

D+N

6.3 t/ha

D-NI +N 21.9 t/ha

Mills et al. 2006, 2009

Winter ⇒ temperature response

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DM yield response to thermal time(Tb = 3°C)

Thermal time (°Cd)0 1000 2000 3000

DM

yie

ld (t

/ha)

0

10

20

30I+N

y = 7.0 kg DM/ha/oCdI–N

y = 3.3 kg DM/ha/oCd

21.9 t/ha

9.8 t/ha

Mills et al. 2006

Summer ⇒ moisture response

Mills 2007Phot

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D+N

15.7 t/ha

21 Nov 30 Jan

Water stress effect on yield

Thermal time0 1000 2000 3000

DM

yie

ld (t

/ha)

0

10

20

30 I+N

y = 7.0 kg DM/ha/oCd

21.9 t/ha

Mills et al. 2006

Rain

fall

(mm

)

0

50

100

Thermal time (°Cd)0 1000 2000 3000

Defic

it (m

m)

0

50

100

150

D+ND-N

Total rain = 520 mm

Soil moisture deficit 2003/04

Mills 2007

Nitrogen deficient pasture – inefficient user of water

1000 kg N/ha

Foliage N concentration (g N/kg DM)0 10 20 30 40 50 60

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

2.6% N 5.2% N

Pmax

s(d

imen

sion

less

)

Peri et al. 2002

Plant vs animal requirements

Nitrogen fertiliser use

Source: New Zealand Fertiliser Manufacturers' Research Association

N a

pplie

d (1

000'

s of

t)

0

100

200

300

400

1960/611965/66

1970/711975/66

1980/811985/86

1990/911995/96

2000/012005/06

How can we increase WUE on-farm?

Ryegrass only

13 kg DM/ha/mm

Lucerne 28 kg DM/ha/mm

20 kg DM/ha/mm

Spring WUE: legume = (nitrogen)

Water use (mm)0 100 200 300

Accu

mul

ated

DM

(t D

M/h

a)

0

2

4

6Ryegrass / clover

Moot et al. 2008

‘Rosabrook’ subterranean clover

Clover yield (kg DM/ha)0 500 1000 1500 2000

Fixe

d N

(kg

N/h

a)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

White cloverSub clover

Biological N fixation

y = 28.0±0.66x (R2=0.96)

Lucas et al. 2010

Sheep prefer 70% legume, 30% grass

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Clover content & milksolids production

Cosgrove, 2005 - SIDE

0

80

90

100

110

120

130

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Clover (%)

Rela

tive

yiel

d (g

rass

= 1

00)

DM (kg/ha)

MS (kg/cow)

MS (kg/ha)

Sheep prefer 70% legume, 30% grass

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rigg

Tem

pello

Russell lupin grazing trial at Sawdon Station

High aluminium soils Black et al. 2014

Conclusions

• Light interception drives dry matter production• Temperature (air and soil) affect crop

development• NTW water affect leaf area expansion and Ps.• Spring gives highest WUE• Agronomists role is to balance nitrogen and water• WHICH LEGUME? – When to use urea?• Optimize production with minimal footprint

ReferencesBlack, A. D., Loxton, G., Ryan-Salter, T. P. and Moot, D. J. 2014. Sheep performance on perennial lupins over three years at Sawdon Station, Lake Tekapo. Proceedings of the New Zealand Grassland Association, 76, 35-39.Brown, G., Naish, T. (not specified). The late Quaternary sequence architecture of Canterbury Blight and adjacent plains - http://www.gns.cri.nz/.

(Presentation)Cosgrove G. 2005. Novel grazing management: making better use of white clover. Proceedings of the 2005 SIDE Conference.Department of Statistics. 2013. Agricultural Production Survey variables (various years). Accessed: (various dates). Online: http://www.stats.govt.nzGreen, C. F. 1987. Nitrogen nutrition and wheat growth in relation to absorbed solar radiation. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 41, 207-248.Hay, R. J. M. and Porter, J. R. 2006. The Physiology of Crop Yield (2nd Ed). Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 314 pp.Kearney, J. K., Moot, D. J. and Pollock, K. M. 2010. Dryland lucerne production in Central Otago. Proceedings of the New Zealand Grassland Association, 72,

121-126.Lucas, R. J., Smith, M. C., Jarvis, P., Mills, A. and Moot, D. J. 2010. Nitrogen fixation by subterranean and white clovers in dryland cocksfoot pastures.

Proceedings of the New Zealand Grassland Association, 72, 141-146.Martin, R. J., Thomas, S. M., Stevens, D. R., Zyskowski, R. F., Moot, D. J. and Fraser, T. J. 2006. Improving water use efficiency on irrigated dairy farms in

Canterbury. Proceedings of the New Zealand Grassland Association, 68, 155-160.Mills, A. 2007. Understanding constraints to cocksfoot (Dactylisglomerata L.) based pasture production, PhD thesis, Lincoln University, Canterbury. Online access:http://researcharchive.lincoln.ac.nz/dspace/bitstream/10182/32/1/mills_phd.pdf. 202 pp.

Mills, A., Moot, D. J. and Jamieson, P. D. 2009. Quantifying the effect of nitrogen of productivity of cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata L.) pastures. EuropeanJournal of Agronomy, 30, 63-69.

Mills, A., Moot, D. J. and McKenzie, B. A. 2006. Cocksfoot pasture production in relation to environmental variables. Proceedings of the New ZealandGrassland Association, 68, 89-94.

Moot, D. J., Brown, H. E., Pollock, K. and Mills, A. 2008. Yield and water use of temperate pastures in summer dry environments. Proceedings of the NewZealand Grassland Association, 70, 51-57.

Moot, D. J., Mills, A. and Pollock, K. M. 2010. Natural resources for Canterbury agriculture. Proceedings of the New Zealand Grassland Association, 72, IX-XVII.NIWA 2013. Climate Explorer – National Median Annual Rainfall Map. Accessed: 1/10/2010 2010. http://climate-explorer.niwa.co.nz.Peri, P. L., Moot, D. J., McNeil, D. L., Varella, A. C. and Lucas, R. J. 2002. Modelling net photosynthetic rate of field-grown cocksfoot leaves under different

nitrogen, water and temperature regimes. Grass and Forage Science, 57, 61-71.

Wilson, D. R. 1987. New approaches to understanding the growth and yield of pea crops. Peas: Management for quality. Special Publication No. 6, Agronomy Society of New Zealand, 23-28.

Acknowledgements for data/graphs• Environment Canterbury (ECAN) for Harts Creek data (data ©ECAN)• New Zealand Fertiliser Association for the nitrogen fertiliser data

Websites/Social Media presenceLincoln University Dryland Pastures Website:

http://www.lincoln.ac.nz/drylandLincoln University Dryland Pastures Blog:

https://blogs.lincoln.ac.nz/dryland/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/DrylandPasturesFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrylandPasturesResearch