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Montana Small Grain Guide

Montana Small Grain Guide. Pages 42-48. Crop Rotation: Sidney Research Center Results. Highest annual yields were obtained with continuous cropping Residue Management for snow trapping was very important Adequate fertility & weed control needed

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Montana Small Grain Guide

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  1. Montana Small Grain Guide Pages 42-48

  2. Crop Rotation: Sidney Research Center Results • Highest annual yields were obtained with continuous cropping • Residue Management for snow trapping was very important • Adequate fertility & weed control needed • Rotating spring & winter grains good for breaking disease & weed cycles • Residue from winter wheat can cause seedbed problems

  3. Crop Rotation: Sidney Research Center Results • Spring wheat stubble was the best for recropping; fewer volunteer plants • Wild oats, cheatgrass, pigeon grass & volunteer grain were serious problems with continuous cropping • Cephalosporium stripe when winter wheat grown in monoculture

  4. Crop Rotation • Three year rotations worked best • Spring wheat after oats or barley lowered wheat quality • Feed grains after wheat wasn’t a factor • Forage crops (corn, oats, barley) can replace a spring grain • stubble is insufficient for trapping snow

  5. Crop Rotation • Sunflower or Safflower can replace spring grains • can utilize Nitrogen that has leached below the root zone of spring grains

  6. Tillage & Residue Management • Can reduce wind & water erosion • Conserve moisture • Trap snow • Tillage implements determine degree of residue incorporation

  7. Conservation Tillage • Stubble mulch: minimum tillage while maintaining a protective residue cover • Ecofallow: uses chemicals and tillage together to control weeds & conserve soil moisture • No-till: seed directly into residue of previous crop

  8. How much residue remains after tillage? • Multiply bushels/acre you harvested by 100 • Multiply by the percentage from chart • Moldboard Plow 5% • Chisel Plow 75% • Harrow 80% • Disk 50-60% • Rodweeder 85-90% • Multiply by factors for each subsequent pass

  9. How much residue remains after tillage? • 20 bu. Per acre crop • 20 X 100 = 2,000 lbs. • Summerfallow using a chisel plow • 2,000 X .75 = 1,500 lbs. • 1,500 X .75 = 1,125 lbs. • 1,125 X .75 = 843 lbs

  10. How much residue should be on the soil surface? • 1,500 - 2,000 lbs per acre • No tillage would be necessary from a 20 bu/acre crop • With no-till drills and adapting drills, tillage to incorporate residue is NOT needed

  11. Affect of tillage on the soil • Loosens soil in the plow layer • Increases soil aeration • Increases water infiltration • Long-term results: less aggregated, more compacted

  12. Soil Compaction • 90% of soil surface is traversed by wheels during seeding • 25% at harvest • 60% when straw is baled and hauled off

  13. Deep Tillage • Subsoiling: breaks or shatters compacted soil layers (Hardpan) • Done at 16” - 36” soil depth • Should be done in fall when soil is fairly dry • Need for subsoiling can be avoided where management practices prevent compaction • reducing secondary tillage operations • adding organic matter

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