Recovering from Hail

Non-Peer ReviewedHailstorms can be responsible for significant economic loss to the agricultural sector in Alberta. Foliar applications of certain fungicides and nutrient blends have been advocated to promote recovery and yield of hail-damaged crops. Proper understanding of different crop- and hail-related factors is required for an accurate assessment of hail damage to crops, and for evaluations of hail-recovery product claims. This study was undertaken at three locations in Alberta during three growing seasons (2016-18) to determine the effect(s) of two levels of simulated hail severity at three different crop developmental stages including early vegetative, middle vegetative and reproductive stages. Plant growth, yield and grain quality parameters of wheat, field pea and dry bean crops were measured. Simulated hail damage led to reductions in crop height, biomass, canopy cover, grain yield and kernel weight of all three crops. Timing of simulated hail was a critical factor influencing the extent of crop damage with early damage to vegetative stages having less effect on yield compared to damage at later reproductive stages. This trend was especially evident in wheat which did not show significant reduction in yield from the damage at early tillering stages but had significant yield loss with damage at flowering. Foliar applications of fungicides and nutrient blends did not significantly improve crop recovery, grain yield or kernel weight for any of the crops in this study, and thus, their use for the recovery of hail-affected wheat, field pea and dry bean was not supported by the results of this study. Link to Video Presentation: https://youtu.be/vgUDIufNwP

Crop rotations compared to continuous canola and wheat for crop production and fertilizer use over six years

Local economic, logistic, soil and weather conditions have made appropriate rotations vary from one area to another. Seed yield and fertilizer use in rotations were compared to continuous cropping for six years, in the southeast Peace Region of Alberta, Canada. Canola (C) (Brassica napus L.), wheat (W) (Triticum aestivum L.), pea (P) (Pisum sativum L.), barley (B) (Hordeum vulgare L.) and flax (F) (Linum usitatissimum L.) were grown in twelve treatments, i.e. continuous canola (CC) and wheat (WW), and rotations of WC, PWW, CWW, CCW, PCW, CPW, WBC, BWC, FWC, and FCW. Canola yield increased with one or two yr breaks from canola. Within rotations, there was a trend to lower canola yield on canola stubble compared to other crop stubbles. Wheat yield was generally lower in WW than in rotations. Among rotations, wheat yield tended to be greater on pea stubble compared to canola, wheat, barley and flax stubbles. Averaged over 2010 to 2015, the canola yield benefit from rotations was 0.632 Mg ha-1 (19.4%) over CC, and wheat yield benefit from rotations was 0.313 Mg ha-1 (7.2 %) over WW. Nitrogen saving was observed when pea was included in rotation.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author

INTER-ROW STUBBLE SEEDING AND PLANT GROWTH REGULATORS TO IMPROVE FIELD PEA STANDABILITY AND PRODUCTION

Field pea (Pisum sativum) is an important economic and rotational crop in Alberta, Canada. However, standability problems are a major barrier to increasing seeded area in highly productive growing environments. Field experiments were conducted from 2015 to 2017, at three sites in the central and Peace regions of Alberta to determine if: i) pea standability and production can be improved using inter-row seeding into untilled standing wheat stubble; ii) pea standability and production can be improved using chlormequat chloride (CCC), trinexapac-ethyl (TXP) or ethephon (ETH) plant growth regulators (PGRs); and iii) PGR responses are cultivar specific. Depending on the site-year there were 16 to 17 inter-row seeding, PGR, cultivar treatment combinations arranged in a randomized complete block design. Relative to the no stubble control, inter-row seeding into 20 or 30 cm tall, untilled wheat stubble significantly improved standability between 6 to 23% under conditions when lodging occurred. It also reduced days to maturity and increased 1000-seed weight, but had no effect on yield. Individual PGR treatments, CCC, TXP and ETH, generally had small and inconsistent impacts on agronomic traits, yield and seed quality. In dry conditions, PGRs reduced yield. CDC Meadow was slightly more responsive to PGR treatments than AAC Lacombe indicating responses may be cultivar specific. Because of small and inconsistent responses, PGRs have little value as an agronomic tool on field pea. Alternatively, inter-row seeding into standing wheat stubble is a low cost, easy to implement practice for improving field pea standability.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author

Management Strategies and Practices for Preventing Nutrient Deficiencies in Organic Crop Production

Field experiments are underway in Canada to determine the influence of management practices (crop diversity, green manure, legumes) and amendments (Penicillium bilaiae, rock phosphate, elemental S, gypsum, manure, wood ash, alfalfa pellets) on crop yield. In the alternative cropping systems study established in 1995, crop yields for organic system without any chemical input were 30-40% lower than the conventional system with high inputs. But, lower input costs plus price premiums for organic produce normally more than offset lower yields, resulting in favourable economic performance and energy efficiency. Legume, green manure and compost manure helped to replace nutrients lacking in the soil and improved crop yields. In the organic system, amount of P removed in crop exceeded that of P replaced and this can be a major yield limiting factor. In amendments experiments, there was small effect of granular rock phosphate fertilizer and/or Penicillium bilaiae in increasing soil P level and crop yield in the application year. Other findings suggested the use of elemental S fertilizer, gypsum, manure, wood ash or alfalfa pellets to improve nutrient availability, and yield and quality of produce. In conclusion, integrated use of management practices and amendments has the potential to increase sustainability of crop production as well as improve soil quality plus minimize environmental damage

Alternative forage feeds for beef cattle in Northwestern Alberta, Canada: forage yield and nutritive value of forage brassicas and forbs

Forbs and forage brassicas are non-traditional forage crops in northwestern Alberta, Canada. Ten forage brassicas (barkant turnips, bayou kale hybrid, daikon radish, collard, inka brand marrowstem kale, malwira turnip rape, purple top turnips, tillage radish, vivant hybrid cross and winfred) and four forbs (buckwheat, chicory, plantain and phacelia) were seeded on 25 May 2018 and 23 May 2019. The above-ground parts of plants were harvested for forage yield and nutritive quality on 15 August 2018 and 29 August 2019. Forage dry matter (DM) yield, crude protein (CP) and total digestible nutrients (TDN) respectively varied from 2953 to 10740 kg DM ha−1, 12.2–23.5% CP and 58.8–77.9% TDN. Some crops had no nitrate (ant-nutritional factor) detected, while six crops (bayou kale cross, chicory, phacelia, plantain, purple top turnips and tillage radish) had nitrate concentrations ranging 0.26–0.56%, considered toxic for beef cattle. In general, the brassicas and forbs investigated produced forage with high nutritional quality. Based on forage DM yield and nitrate level in the forage, the crops with the most attractive forage options that can provide alternative forage feed for beef cattle production from this study would be buckwheat, daikon radish, inka brand marrowstem kale and forage collards

Agronomic practices for red lentil in Alberta

Lentil was seldom grown in Alberta prior to 2015 due to lack of demonstrated ability to achieve adequate yields, even though it was potentially well adapted to most agricultural regions within the province. We conducted field trials at five locations for four years to determine potential productivity and optimum seeding rate, N management and imidazolinone herbicide formulation for two imidazolinone-resistant red lentil cultivars across a broad geographic region of Alberta. Over the four years of this study (2012 to 2015), the average yield potential of lentil ranged from 3000 to 3700 kg ha-1 at five locations. Maximum yield was consistently obtained when plant density exceeded 90 plants m-2. Lentil yield was not influenced by rhizobia inoculation, N fertilizer rate or their interaction. Application of imidazolinone-based herbicide did not impact yield or nodulation of the lentil cultivars used in this study. High productivity of two imidazolinone-resistant red lentil cultivars was attainable over a broad geographic region of Alberta.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author

Effects of simulated hail damage, and foliar-applied recovery treatments, on growth and grain yield of wheat, field pea and dry bean crops

Hailstorms can be responsible for significant economic loss to the agricultural sector in Alberta, Canada. Foliar applications of certain fungicides and nutrient blends have been advocated to promote recovery and yield of hail-damaged crops. Proper understanding of different crop and hail-related factors is required for an accurate assessment of hail damage to crops, and for evaluations of hail-recovery product claims. This study was undertaken at three locations in Alberta during three growing seasons (2016-18) to determine the effects of two levels of simulated hail severity at three different crop developmental stages including early growth (BBCH 30 for wheat; BBCH 14-16 for pulses), mid-growth (BBCH 39 for wheat; BBCH 60 for pulses) and late growth (BBCH 60 for wheat; BBCH 71 for pulses) stages. Plant growth, and yield parameters of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), field pea (Pisum sativum L.) and dry bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) crops were measured. Simulated hail damage led to reductions in height, biomass, NDVI, grain yield and kernel weight of all three crops. Average yield decreased by 24 and 35% for wheat, 17 and 35% for dry beans, and 37 and 45% for field peas for light and heavy hail severity, respectively. Hail timing was a critical factor influencing the extent of crop damage, with hail damage during early growth stage leading to lesser yield reduction compared to hail damage at mid-growth and late growth stages. Fungicides and nutrient blends applications did not significantly improve crop recovery, grain yield or kernel weight for any of the crops in this study.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author

Canola growth, production and quality are influenced by seed size and seeding rate

Canola (Brassica napus L.) is the most widespread profitable cash crop in Canada. In 2014 and 2015, direct-seeded experiments were conducted in sixteen western Canada environments. “Small” canola seed (average 3.32 to 3.44 g 1000-1) was compared to “large” canola seed (average 4.96 to 5.40 g 1000-1) at five seeding rates (50, 75,100, 125 or 150 seeds m-2). Large canola seeds increased crop density and crop biomass but decreased plant mortality, days to start of flowering, days to end of flowering, days to maturity and percent green seed. Seed size did not influence harvested seed weight, seed oil content or seed protein content. Increasing the seeding rate of small seeds improved canola yield, but the same response did not occur for large seeds. Increasing seeding rates also increased crop density, plant mortality, crop biomass and seed oil content but decreased days to start of flowering, days to end of flowering, days to maturity, percent green seed and seed protein content. Seeding rate had no impact on harvested seed weights. Because higher seeding rates often provide some of the same benefits as large seed, canola growers and the seed industry should balance seed size and seeding rate to obtain the best agronomic performance from canola.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author