A survey of zero-till researchers in western Canada and the northern states.

Non-Peer Reviewe

Row spacing, yields, and the bottom line – how wide can we go?

Non-Peer Reviewe

Effects of soil temperature, soil moisture content and seeding depth on germination and emergence of winter wheat

Non-Peer Reviewe

Effect of tillage and crop rotation on soil quality factors

Non-Peer Reviewe

Seeding rate and seeding depth

Non-Peer Reviewe

Altering the competitiveness of tame oat verses wild oat with phosphorous and seeding rate

Non-Peer Reviewe

Olsen-P distribution in a thin Black Chernozem as influenced by fertilizers and crop rotations

Non-Peer ReviewedInorganic phosphorus (P) is generally believed to be relatively immobile in Chernozemic soils. However, available P (e.g., Olsen-P) has been found at depth in some soils and this has been postulated to be either the result of leaching or of transportation by plant roots. Legumes, in particular, are believed to be involved in the latter mechanism. A long-term (34-yr) crop rotation study conducted on a heavy clay, thin Black Chernozemic soil at Indian Head, Saskatchewan, was sampled to a depth of 4.5 m in May and September, 1991, to determine the influence of fertilization, cropping frequency, legume green manure and legume-grass hay crops on Olsen-P distribution in the soil profile. The results indicated that Olsen-P may indeed leach in Chernozemic soils, especially when fallow-containing cropping systems are fertilized. It also appeared that deep rooted legumes, such as sweetclover green manure and alfalfa-bromegrass hay crops do increase Olsen-P in the subsoil, possibly through root decomposition in situ or some other mechanism

Effectiveness of chemical seed treatments in improving the agronomic performance of cereal crops derived from Fusarium-infected seed lots

Non-Peer Reviewe

Effects of tillage systems and crop rotations on the economics of spring wheat, winter wheat, flax and field peas for a thin Black soil at Indian Head

Non-Peer ReviewedThe long term viability and profitability of agriculture in western Canada is dependent on our ability to maintain or enhance the production potential of the soil. The current problems associated with wind and water erosion and the widespread use of soil degradative cultural practices threaten the long term sustainability of dryland crop production. The adoption of new soil conserving production systems requires that they be profitable in the short and long term. This paper discusses the economic performance of zero, minimum and conventional tillage management using three different crop rotations in the thin Black Soil Zone of east central Saskatchewan. All inputs were costed according to local prices quoted at the time of use. The same procedure was used for prices of commodities. The production costs for flax, spring wheat, and field peas grown on stubble were similar for all three tillage systems. The production costs for spring wheat grown on fallow was higher under zero till than either minimum or conventional tillage. Given similar production costs and higher yields for crops grown on stubble under zero and minimum tillage management, these production systems were more profitable than the traditional conventional tillage production system

Yield trends of wheat – impact of fertilization and legume

Non-Peer ReviewedA long-term (34-yr) crop rotation experiment being conducted at Indian Head, Saskatchewan, on a thin Black Chernozem with heavy clay texture, was used to assess the influence of fertilizer (N and P), sweetclover green manure, and alfalfa-bromegrass hay on yield trends of hard red spring wheat grown on wheat stubble in rotations of varying cropping intensity. When no fertilizer was applied, yields of wheat grown on wheat stubble trended downwards for fallowwheat- wheat, presumably due to increased soil erosion and declining fertility. Yield trends remained generally constant for unfertilized continuous wheat, perhaps because of less soil erosion. The inclusion of green manure in an unfertilized green manure-wheat-wheat rotation increased the yields of wheat grown on stubble compared to unfertilized fallow-wheat-wheat, but the yield trends were still negative. We speculated that this was because legumes do not provide any P to the system. The unfertilized fallow-wheat-wheat-hay-hay-hay system maintained stubble wheat yields at a generally constant level due to low soil erosion and because the hay-containing system markedly increased N-supplying power of the soil. The addition of N and P fertilizer at rates based on soil tests resulted in a positive divergence in yield trends of fallow-wheat-wheat and continuous wheat systems. We suggest that legumes require added P if they are to sustain crop production in a manner similar to that provided by responsible use of fertilizers