Measurement of water use by canola with sap flow gauges

Non-Peer Reviewe

Yield adjustment by canola under different plant populations in the semiarid prairie

Non-Peer Reviewe

Grass barriers for wheat production in southwest Saskatchewan

Non-Peer ReviewedWind has long been considered a bane to farming in the Brown and Dark Brown Soil Zones of southwest Saskatchewan. Blowing dust from rampant wind erosion in an all-too-often occurrence. Strong hot summer winds cause tremendous moisture stress to crops – particularly in dry years when crops are already drought-stressed. Perennial vegetative windbreaks have been advocated as a way to reduce near-surface windspeeds both to control wind erosion and to improve crop yields through better water conservation and decreased in-crop evaporative stress

Liquid Scintillator Time Projection Chamber Concept

Results are presented from a small-scale experiment to investigate the use of room temperature organic liquid scintillators as the active medium for a time projection chamber (TPC). The optical properties of liquid scintillators have long been known, but their ability to transport charge has remained, until now, largely untested. The idea of using room temperature liquids as an active medium for an ionisation chamber was first presented in \cite{EnglerTMS}. Since then the range of liquid scintillators available has been greatly developed. We present successful transport of ionization charges in a selection of both, pure organic liquid solvents and liquid scintillator cocktails over 20$\,$mm using a variety of electric drift field strengths. The target of this research is to offer a cost effective alternative to liquid noble gas detectors in neutrino physics.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Proceedings 12th Pisa Meeting on Advanced Detectors, La Biodola, Isola d'Elba, Ital

Plant temperature of canola direct seeded into standing stubble

Non-Peer Reviewe

Stubble height and fertilizer N requirements for maximizing canola yield in the semiarid Canadian prairie

Non-Peer ReviewedCanola is becoming a viable crop when grown under fallow in the semiarid prairie, but is also grown in longer rotations, most often direct seeded into standing stubble. Taller standing stubble provides the canola seedlings with a more favorable micro-climate promoting more efficient use of water and increased yields compared to canola grown without the protection of standing stubble. When grown under the more limited moisture conditions of extended rotations but in the moisture conserving characteristics of taller standing stubble, we found canola yielded best with fertilizer N rates similar to those of the moister Black soil zone. Canola yields were consistently highest when fertilized with > 100 kg N ha-1

Canola yield formation under different population and water use levels

Non-Peer ReviewedOptimum population is the foundation for high yields under rain-fed agriculture and the optimum population depends on the water availability. However, establishing a good canola stand in the Canadian semiarid Prairie, where low temperature, water stress and soil crusting result in poor seed bed conditions, is difficult. A field study was conducted during 2000, a year with moderate soil moisture and good canola growing conditions, and 2001, a year with severe water and heat stress, to understand the plasticity of canola yield parameters at different (80 to 5 plants per square meter) plant populations. The primary response of canola to lower plant population was increased branching, although it did not compensate completely for the decreasing population. Increased branching was accompanied by increased production and increased distribution of pods on the primary and secondary branches. Canola exhibited plasticity in yield adjustment over a wide range of plant populations. Environmental conditions played a significant role in expressing canola plasticity. For example, in a normal year like 2000 canola maintained similar yield levels over a wider range of populations (80 to 20 pl m-2), while in a dry year like 2001 seed yield started declining with populations below 40 pl m-2. Ability to produce more pods, especially at lower population densities, was responsible for the environmental influence on yield formation

25 years of tillage effects on wheat production in a continuous cropping system

Non-Peer ReviewedHeat stress occurs often in wheat on the Canadian Prairies especially during grain growth (from anthesis to maturity), which has a markedly negative impact on yield (McCaig 1997). Under no-till management (NT), surface residue and stubble act as insulation and impede the exchange rate of thermal energy between the soil and the atmosphere, and the superior soil moisture of NT compared to conventional tillage (CT) can buffer the extremes in daily soil temperatures. It is, therefore, possible that the cooling effect of NT could alleviate the root heat stress of wheat. Under a continuous wheat cropping system on a Thin Black Chernozemic clay loam in central Alberta, Wang et al (2007) found that the near-surface soil temperature of NT was lower than that of CT throughout the growing season, which reduced the risk of root heat stress and benefited grain yield and biomass. The objective of this study was to investigate whether a similar effect of NT is present in southwestern Saskatchewan