Crop Rotation - Jake Munroe & Joanna Follings - 10

Crop Rotation Profitability, productivity, and resilience

Jake Munroe

Soil Fertility Specialist (Field Crops)

OMAFRA

Joanna Follings

Cereals Specialist

OMAFRA

Outline

• Diverse crop rotations

• Opportunities for cereals in rotation

• Management of cereals

• Impacts of wheat in rotation

• Economics of cereals in rotation

Crop Rotation

Crop Rotation

Crop Rotation

Crop Rotation

Live Roots in the Ground

Corn

Soybeans

No Crop

Corn

Soybeans

No Crop

W. Wheat

Corn

Soybeans

No Crop

W. Wheat +Cover Crop

Davis et al, 2012

Davis et al, 2012

Variability in profit was significantly higher for the 2 year rotation

Diverse Crop Rotations

• Increase long-term productivity

• Enhance soil fertility and soil health

• Improve resilience to stress years

• Reduce pest pressure

Challenges include:

• More involved management

• Short-term economic drivers

Ontario Cereals Landscape

Crop Acres 2016 Yield

(bu/ac)

Winter Wheat - SRW ~ 633,000 96

Winter Wheat - HRW ~ 80,000 91

Winter Wheat - SWW ~72,000 100

Spring Wheat ~90,000 53.3

Barley ~95,000 63

Oats ~50,000 84

Spring Grain Mix ~70,000 65.7

Where are we at in the east?

County Winter Wheat Spring Wheat

Lanark 1,446 1,114

Leeds-Grenville - 1,296

Lennox & Addington 3,913 -

Ottawa 5,292 1,679

Prescott & Russell 1,401 5,991

Renfrew 2,422 2,006

Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry

2,033 4,994

Total 16,507 17,080

Ontario 975,000 90,000

Where are we at in the east? County Oat Barley Spring Grain

Leeds – Grenville - 480 992

Ottawa - - 441

Prescott & Russell - 514 1,462

Renfrew 500 - 982

Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry

- 691 1,347

Total 500 1,685 5,224

Ontario 50,000 95,000 70,000

Opportunities for Cereals in Rotation

• Best option for early planting • Residual nitrogen results in lower N requirement

for wheat

• Timely planting • Higher yielding than wheat after soybeans

• Timely planting

• Excellent rotation • Timely planting

• Excellent rotation • When soybean harvest is delayed, wheat planted

later will have lower yield potential

Opportunities for Malting Barley

• Barley now represented by GFO

– 186,500 tonnes

– 147,383 acres

• Craft Brewing Industry

– 224 brewers in 2016, up from 40 in 2009

– 158 breweries have on-site retail stores. • Of those, approximately 153 could be considered small brewers

– 92 additional breweries planned

Current Malt House Capacity

• 2 small malt houses in Ontario – Harvest Hop and Malt, Guelph

• 100 tonne organic malt barley capacity

– Barn Owl Malt, Belleville • 100 tonne capacity

– Two potential malt houses opening in Erin and Windsor

• About 2000 tonnes of ON malt barley going to Canada Malt in Montreal

Malt Demand

• One tonne of finished malt will make 50 hL of beer

– 8 million hL of beer produced in Ontario

• How many acres?

– 160,000 tonnes

– Average yield 1.5-2 ton/ac

– ~80,000 - 100,000 acres of malting barley

Cereals Management

• Variety Selection

• Field Selection

• Planting (date, depth and seeding rate)

• Fertility

• Weed Control

• Fungicides

• Harvest/Storage

Variety Selection

• Disease resistance (FHB)

• Yield

• Protein

• Lodging

• Winter Survival

Field Selection

• Avoid compaction or rutting

• Select well drained fields & good soil structure, if possible

• Crop rotation

– Following processing peas, edible beans, soybeans or canola best

Planting Date

OMAFRA, Pub 811

Planting Date – Spring Cereals

Seeding Date

Wheat Yield (bu/ca)

# Days Difference

Yield Loss per day (bu/ac)

12-Apr 72.5

30-Apr 68.0 18 -0.25

12-May 55.3 12 -1.06

26-May 42.3 14 -0.93

Planting Date – Frost Seeding

Avg Frost Avg Dry Soil

% Yield Increase

Barley 59.6 54.2 10

Oat 128.0 109.7 16.7

Wheat 51.5 36.4 41.5

Falk & Dean, University of Guelph 2004

Seeding Rate Target Plant Population

Crop Plants/sq.m. Seeds/acre (x1000)

Winter Wheat 350-450 1,400-1,800

Barley 250-350 1,000-1,400

Oats 200-300 800-1,200

Mixed Grain 200-350 800-1,400

Spring Wheat 300-400 1,200-1,600

OMAFRA, Pub 811

Planting Depth

Fertility

• Previous crop

• Soil type

• Field history – manure

• Yield goal and fungicide use

• Variety – class & lodging potential

• Maximum protein allowed (malting barley)

• P & K soil test

Fertility

May 27, 2016 April, 2016

Nitrogen Management

Banks, 2016

Yield (bu/ac) @14.5% Protein %

N Rate (lbs/acre)/ Fungicide

Caramba None Caramba None

0 76.1 71.9 9.6 10.6

60 102.3 87.0 11.9 11.4

90 105.7 94.0 12.4 13.0

120 105.5 99.0 12.0 13.8

60 spring + 60 @Z31-Z32

101.8 105.7 10.8 11.1

150 108.6 99.4 13.4 14.1

75 spring + 75 @ Z31-Z32

101.9 100.8 11.7 11.7

Fungicides

3

7 8

7

9 10

11

3

9 10

13 13

15

18

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

T1 T2 T3 T1 + T2 T1 + T3 T2 + T3 T1 + T2 +T3

90 lbs N

150 lbs N

Yield response bu/ac to Fungicide Strategy and N

Hooker et al, 2012

T1 = Herbicide T2 = Flag Leaf T3 = Flowering

10.8

11.0

11.2

11.4

11.6

11.8

12.0

12.2

12.4

35.0

40.0

45.0

50.0

55.0

60.0

65.0

70.0

75.0

80.0

85.0

0 30 60 90 120 150

Yie

ld (

bu

/acr

e)

N Rates

Spring Wheat N Response Curve

With Fungicide

Without Fungicide

Protein

MER-N Fung 130 No Fung 98 Current 63

10.0

10.5

11.0

11.5

12.0

12.5

90.0

100.0

110.0

120.0

130.0

140.0

0 30 60 90 120 150

Yie

ld (

bu

/acr

e)

N Rate

Nitrogen X Fungicide Interactions

With Fungicide

Without Fungicide

Protein


Oat N Response Curve

9.0

9.5

10.0

10.5

11.0

11.5

12.0

12.5

45.0

55.0

65.0

75.0

85.0

95.0

105.0

115.0

125.0

0 30 60 90 120 150

Yie

ld (

bu

/acr

e)

N Rates

Nitrogen X Fungicide Interactions

With Fungicide

Without Fungicide

Protein


Barley N Response Curve

Confidential 35

Treatment Yield

(bu/ac) Gain

Check (No Sulphur) 90.3 -

5 lbs Sulphur 93.1 2.8



Harvest

Harvest Date Yield

(bu/ac)

Test Wt

(lb/bu)

Fusarium

(%)

August 28th 92.5 65.0 0.2

September 6th 87.3 61.8 0.7

Johnson, 2011 – New Liskeard

What are the impacts of cereals in your crop rotation?

Soybean Yields at Elora (CT)

Gaudin et al., 2015

50 bu/ac

41 bu/ac

33 bu/ac

Corn Yields at Elora (NT)

Gaudin et al., 2015

133c

150b 154 152b

161c

150b

156b 159

156b

183b 178a

186a

157

175a

195a

100

110

120

130

140

150

160

170

180

190

200

Gra

in Y

ield

(b

u/a

c)

2009 2010 2011

The “Rotation Effect” on corn yields Ridgetown 2009-13

C-C

C

-S

C-S

-W

2012

Note: Mean separation within year (p=0.05)

C-C

C

-S

C-S

-W

C-C

C

-S

C-S

-W

C-C

C

-S

C-S

-W

C-C

C

-S

C-S

-W

2013

Hooker (UG Ridgetown) 41

Opportunity for a Cover Crop

186

157

175 173b

198

162

184 181a

100

120

140

160

180

200

220

Gra

in Y

ield

(b

u/a

c)

2010 2011

Corn Yields after Wheat +/- Red Clover, Ridgetown 2010-12

C-S

-W

C-S

-W(r

c)

2012

C-S

-W

C-S

-W(r

c)

C-S

-W

C-S

-W(r

c)

C-S

-W

C-S

-W(r

c)

Ave

Hooker (UG Ridgetown) Fertilizer N applied to all plots @ 180 lbs N/ac 43

186

157

175 173b

198

162

184 181a

100

120

140

160

180

200

220

Gra

in Y

ield

(b

u/a

c)

2010 2011

Corn Yields after Wheat +/- Red Clover, Ridgetown 2010-12

C-S

-W

C-S

-W(r

c)

2012

C-S

-W

C-S

-W(r

c)

C-S

-W

C-S

-W(r

c)

C-S

-W

C-S

-W(r

c)

Ave

Hooker (UG Ridgetown) Fertilizer N applied to all plots @ 180 lbs N/ac 44

Does a more diverse crop rotation increase soil organic matter?

Yes.

McDaniel et al, 2014

Yes.

McDaniel et al, 2014

70

72

74

76

78

80

82

84

86

88

90

CCSS CCCC CCBB CCSW CCSWrc CCBrcBrc CCAA AAAA

Mg

Car

bo

n h

a-1

Rotation

Meyer-Aurich et al., 2006

Elora Long-Term Rotation Trial

Ridgetown Long-Term Rotation Trial

Soil organic matter (1995-2006):

1. Wheat-Soy > Corn-Soy-Wheat/CC/CS > Cont. Soy

2. Corn-Soy-Wheat rotation has shown greatest increase in OM in response to N fertilization

How does a more diverse crop rotation increase soil organic matter?

Soil Organic Matter

• Diverse crop rotations: – Increase soil microbial populations and

activity

– May increase efficiency of soil microbes

• Old microbial cells and their by-products make up large % of OM

• A balanced mix of residue types can

help build long-term, stable organic matter

Benefits of a Diverse Crop Rotation

• Improved soil health

• More stable yields (and income)

• Reduced N requirements and improved N use efficiency

• Others…?

Improved Fertility Management

Does having winter wheat/cereals in the rotation pay?

+10 bu/ac +5 bu/ac

$4.70/bu $13.00/bu

$47/ac $65/ac $35/ac (N Credit)

$82/ac

Hooker (UG Ridgetown)

Putting It All Together

• Diverse crop rotations improve long term yield stability

• Diverse crop rotations can be an effective tool for managing weed, disease and insect pests

• Cereals in rotation provide new management opportunities (e.g. cover crops)

• Cereals add value to the entire farm enterprise

Questions?

Jake Munroe Soil Fertility Specialist (Field Crops)

519-271-9269 [email protected] Twitter: @onfieldcrops

Joanna Follings Cereals Specialist

519-271-8180 [email protected]

Twitter: @jofollings

www.fieldcropnews.com

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

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Crop Rotation - Jake Munroe & Joanna Follings - 10