The Cost of Tillage

Tillage has been a common event in farming for centuries. New information and management practices are demonstrating better ways of managing the soil to reduce erosion and improve productivity and profitability. Tillage destroys the soil structure, actually increasing the weeds and reducing the water holding capacity of the soil. Highly erodible areas of a field can lose more than 5 tons of soil per year with conventional tillage. Converting to no-till management can reduce production costs more than $30 per acre per year, saving topsoil and reducing management time in the field

Corn Date of Planting and Depth

The exceptionally wet weather in 2019 impacted corn yield. Excessive rainfall reduced corn emergence and plant stand. Many production fields were replanted due to poor stand from flooding. In this study, corn that was planted too shallow (1 inch) or too deep (3 inches) had less yield than that planted at 2-inch depth. The best yield was observed in the corn planted on April 16, 2019. The results from this record wet year were different from previous years, when early planted corn had higher yields

Identification of Yield-Limiting Factors in Southeast Kansas Cropping Systems

Crop performance and yield within production fields varies as a function of growing environment and soil properties within the field. Components contributing to yield in corn, wheat, and soybean production were examined through on-farm measurements of soil properties in southeast Kansas. Additional tests in research plots explored components contributing to yield in greater detail. Environmental variability between the 2013 and 2014 growing seasons contributed to differences in yield. Additional variability in soil parameters influenced crop performance, particularly for soils high in clay content

2014 Crop Performance in Southeast Kansas

Crop variety testing determines the production potential of newly released crop cultivars in Southeast Kansas. The genetic potential is moderated by environmental conditions during the growing season as well as soil productive capacity

Exploring the Physical, Chemical and Biological Components of Soil: Improving Soil Health for Better Productive Capacity

“Soil health” is a term that is used to describe soil quality. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service has defined soil health as “The continued capacity of soil to function as a vital living ecosystem that sustains plants, animals and humans (NRCS 2018).” For a farmer, soil health is the productive capacity of the soil, or the capacity of the soil to produce a crop or pasture. Healthy soils produce more and with better quality. Soil health is critical for water and nutrient cycling. Soil captures rainwater and stores it for use by plants. Soil health is important to improve both the amount of water and nutrients that a soil can hold, and the availability of water and nutrients for plants. The storage of water and nutrients and subsequent transfer to plants are critical determinants of the productive capacity of the soil, and the soil health. Here, we explore the fundamental components of soil, and how each component contributes to soil health and soil productive capacity

Improving Yield Stability and Resiliency of Agronomic Production Systems in Southeast Kansas

Soil health is a critical determinant of crop performance. Soil physical, chemical, and biological properties can be modified through production practices such as tillage. Use of cover crops has been shown to benefit soil health and may improve productive capacity of soils. High rainfall and intense crop production practices limit the ability to implement cover crops in current production systems in southeast Kansas. This study explores potential management of cover crops and their contribution to soil health, crop productivity, and animal grazing

Biomass Production of Single Species Cover Crop

Cover crops can benefit agricultural production by improving soil health and productivity, reducing weeds, and providing biomass for grazing. In this one-year study, biomass production was measured in 17 different single species summer cover crops and a fallow control. Overall, grass species produced more biomass than brassicas, with legumes, broadleaves, and fallow yielding intermediate amounts of biomass. Within the grass species, pearl millet, brown midrib (BMR) sorghum, and sorghum sudan produced more biomass than proso millet; German millet and browntop millet had intermediate biomass production. Within the brassicas, both brown and yellow mustards produced more biomass than collards. There was no difference in biomass production within the broadleaf species or the legume species tested. Plots that produced higher amounts of biomass also had fewer weeds, indicating the potential for cover crops to reduce weed growth and establishment. The cost of biomass production varied widely between the cover crops, with the broadleaf and grass species being the least expensive. Choice of a cover crop depends on the goals. Based on cost, weed suppression, and grazing potential, the most suitable cover crops identified in this study were pearl millet, BMR sorghum, sorghum sudan, German millet, okra, and cowpea

IDENTIFICATION OF ERRORS IN COTTON FIBER DATA SETS USING BAYESIAN NETWORKS

Cotton fiber is graded on a series of parameters based on physiological factors (strength, length, and thickness), lint color, and presence of non-lint matter such as leaves, stems or other foreign materials. Cotton lint is graded by the USDA-AMS after harvest and ginning, and the grade determines the price of the lint. Given the importance of cotton fiber quality to the value of the crop, the spatial variability of cotton fiber properties is of particular interest to researchers and producers in developing management scenarios for optimal profitability. Previous research studies have relied on hand-harvesting the cotton at intervals throughout the field to obtain a measure of the cotton fiber quality and the extent of spatial variability. However, hand-harvested cotton has different qualities than that harvested by machine and ginned in the large-scale production gins. Part of this arises from the difference in efficiency of harvest between machine and humans, and part results from the different gins used for the smaller sample sizes. While these studies have demonstrated the extent of spatial variability of fiber properties, handharvesting is not amenable to large-scale or production research efforts. Moreover, the differences in fiber properties limit the extension of the results to the production setting. We have developed a mechanism of sampling cotton from the cotton chute during mechanical harvest. The samples are then ginned on a research gin. This study was undertaken to develop a method of translating these small-scale researcher level results to full-scale production level results. The research reported here is the first step in that effort, and demonstrates the use of Bayesian networks to detect erroneous entries in cotton fiber data sets

Evaluating Single and Multi-Species Summer Cover Crops for Biomass Yield

Cover crops have multiple benefits to integrated agricultural production systems. How­ever, information is needed on best species and mixes to use. In this one-year study, the single species grass cover crops produced the most biomass. Spring forage peas did not perform well as a summer cover crop, yielding the same biomass as the fallow areas. Adding collards to the mixtures generally reduced total biomass production compared to single species of grasses alone. Total biomass production was affected by the number of plants in the mixture. Yields of grass-only plots were ~868 lb of dry matter (DM) per acre more than cover crop mixtures composed of two or three plant species. Plots with cover crop mixes yielded on average 1,348 lb DM/acre more than single species plots with legumes or collards. Grasses composed the greatest proportion of the total biomass (\u3e 77% of total DM biomass was from grass species in mixtures)

Southeast Kansas Weather Summary - 2020

This is a summary of the weather conditions in southeast Kansas during the 2019/2020 growing season. The wet weather pattern that began in 2019 continued into the spring of 2020, creating adverse conditions for spring crop establishment. Dry conditions dur­ing the summer and fall limited crop and pasture production. Temperatures were very near the 10-year averages at each location