Barley after hay: grass matters!

Non-Peer ReviewedPerennial forage crops are not traditionally grown in crop rotations in the Brown soil zone for several reasons: i) they are slow to establish; ii) they require intensive tillage to terminate; and iii) they reduce yield of subsequent crops. Short-lived perennial forages that possess rapid establishment characteristics could be used for 3 years of hay production with easier rotation to an annual crop. An experiment seeded in 1998 at the Semiarid Prairie Agricultural Research Centre with three short-lived grasses grown in monoculture or with two alfalfa cultivars was terminated by herbicide or tillage in May 2002, and subsequently seeded to barley. Visual observations prior to stand termination indicated that slender wheatgrass (SWG) and Dahurian wildrye (DWR) ground cover had declined but intermediate wheatgrass (IWG) was generally over 90% of the original. Barley yield was 17 bu/ac on plots previously in IWG compared to 26 and 28 bu/ac on plots previously in DWR and SWG, respectively. IWG reduced straw yield, harvest index, and test weight compared to SWG and DWG. Grass mixtures with Beaver alfalfa yielded 30 bu/ac compared to 21 and 19 bu/ac for Nitro alfalfa and grass monocultures. Barley grown on previously Beaver alfalfa mixtures also had higher straw yield, harvest index, and test weight compared to that grown on plots from the other two mixtures. These preliminary results suggest that short-lived grasses (DWR and SWG) may fit in crop rotations better than longer lived species (IWG) and that inclusion of alfalfa may, in fact, increase subsequent barley yields in this semiarid region

What happens to the soil organic matter if I till long-term no-till?

Non-Peer ReviewedThe long-term practice of no-till (low-disturbance direct seeding) is an effective method to increase the soil organic matter (SOM) content of the soil. If that increased soil organic matter is traded as an offset for greenhouse-gas emissions, then we need to know what happens to SOM if, for whatever reason, the soil is tilled. The results in southwestern Saskatchewan indicated that if the land is cropped, there is evidence of large losses of SOM from single tillage on long-term (13-yr) no-till on sandy loam soil but little loss of SOM on a loam and clay soil from single tillage of long-term (23-yr and 13-yr) no-till. However, if the land was summerfallowed, there were large losses of SOM. As the pioneers discovered when they broke the land, we also found that the faster the SOM is decreased, the greater the release of nutrients, especially nitrogen (N), from SOM. Through this release of N, summerfallow on long-term continuously cropped notill increased the release of the potent greenhouse gas, nitrous oxide (N2O)

Where is nitrogen going in long-term cropping systems?

Non-Peer ReviewedFertilizer nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) is normally low, and has led to the idea that a large proportion of N applied as fertilizer is lost from the soil. However, N balances calculated for a long-term rotation study at Swift Current indicate that losses of fertilizer N from the soil are small, and comparison of cumulative N balances with actual soil organic matter measurements show that an overwhelming proportion of this N is cycled through the organic matter, through microbially mediated processes, enhancing the fertility of the soil

Previous Grass-Lucerne Mixtures Affect Barley Yield and Quality in a Semiarid Location of the Canadian Prairie Region

In the semiarid region of the Canadian prairies perennial forages are not rotated with annual crops because previous experiments reported negative impacts (Kilcher and Anderson 1963; Campbell et al. 1990). However, previous research used persistent species while short-lived species could have less adverse effect. Our objective was to compare three grass species in three lucerne mixtures terminated with tillage or herbicide for effects on barley grain, N concentration, and N uptake

Manual de manejo conservacionista do solo para os estados do Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina e Paraná.

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Effect of cropping frequency, crop type, and fertilization on nitrate leaching in a semi-arid environment

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Nitrate leaching after 17 years in no-tilled crop rotations in southwestern Saskatchewan

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OARSI year in review 2023:Rehabilitation and outcomes

Objective: We systematically reviewed the literature to identify comparative studies of core treatments (exercise, education, or weight management), adjunct treatments (e.g. electrotherapeutical modalities, bracing), or multimodal treatments (core plus other treatments), for treating osteoarthritis (OA) complaints, published between 1 March 2022 and 1 March 2023. Design: We searched three electronic databases for peer-reviewed comparative studies evaluating core treatments, adjunct treatments, or multimodal treatments for OA affecting any joint, in comparison to other OA treatments. Two authors independently screened records. Methodological quality was assessed using the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) scale. A narrative synthesis focusing on pain and function outcomes was performed in studies with a mean sample size of at least 46 participants per treatment arm. Results: 33 publications (28 studies), 82% with PEDro ratings of good or excellent, were eligible for narrative synthesis: 23 studies evaluated knee OA; one knee OA or chronic low back pain; two knee or hip OA; one hip OA only; and one thumb OA. No studies identified a dose, duration or type of exercise that resulted in better pain or function outcomes. Core treatments generally showed modest benefits compared to no or minimal intervention controls. Conclusions: Rehabilitation research continues to be focused on the knee. Most studies are not adequately powered to assess pain efficacy. Further work is needed to better account for contextual effects, identify treatment responder characteristics, understand treatment mechanisms, and implement guideline care.</p