Yield and water use of paired-row versus conventionally seeded spring wheat at Swift Current

Non-Peer ReviewedFrom 1986 to 1989 at the Swift Current Research Station, a hard red spring wheat (cv. Leader) was planted in north-south rows with row spacings of: a) 25 cm (conventional seeding-CS), and b) two rows 10 cm apart with 50 cm between the centre of each paired-row (paired-row seeding-PR) . Seed and fertilizer were applied at recommended rates for stubble seeding in the Brown Soil Zone. There were no differences in grain yield, water use or days to maturity between CS and PR seeding. The data suggest that under the environmental conditions of the Brown Soil Zone in southwest Saskatchewan paired-row seeding would have no agronomic advantage over conventional seeding

How rotation and tillage system affect Fusarium populations in wheat and barley in eastern Saskatchewan

Non-Peer Reviewe

Effect of P fertilization management on alfalfa forage production and on soil available P

Non-Peer ReviewedA field experiment designed to determine the effect of P fertilization on forage production of alfalfa seeded in pure stands or mixed with Russian Wildrye was started in 1997 on a Swinton Silt Loam at Swift Current. Phosphorus as triple superphosphate was applied either prior to seeding at rates of 20, 40 or 80 (P20, P40, and P80, respectively) or as annual mid-row band applications of 10, 20 or 40 kg P2O5/ha (A10, A20, and A40, respectively). The A40 treatment was the only fertilizer regime that consistently produced the highest forage yields and forage P concentration. While the P40 and P80 treatments produced the same forage yields as A40 in the first two years of the study, their forage yields declined thereafter. All P treatments increased forage P concentration, especially A40 that consistently produced the highest P concentration. In the last year, however the preplant treatments failed to increase P concentration. Cumulative P balances for the check and preplant treatments had identical negative slopes and intercepts proportional to the rate of P applied. Balances for the annual treatments had intercepts proportional to applied P; while the A10 treatment had a zero slope; A20 andA40 had positive slopes proportional to the application of P. The level of Olsen P in the soil followed a trend similar to that described for the balance

Why are tame hay yields declining in Saskatchewan?

Non-Peer ReviewedProvincial agricultural production statistics show that grain crop yields have generally increased over the past 35 years while tame hay yields peaked in 1980 and have since been in decline. Weather data from 16 sites across Saskatchewan for the April, May, and June (AMJ) period were examined to explain this decline. As expected, precipitation during AMJ was positively correlated to hay yield but temperature was not. Hay yield was subsequently expressed as water use efficiency (WUE) based on published annual mean hay yield and AMJ precipitation. The WUE exhibited a negative correlation to year since 1980 and to the harvested hay acreage per year. After de-trending both WUE and harvested hay acreage for the year effect, the residual variation in both variables was still negatively correlated. We propose that older and lower-yielding hay fields are being harvested more frequently over the last two decades to provide feed for a growing Saskatchewan beef cow herd. This suggests that forage extension efforts should focus on hay field rejuvenation and agronomic management for improved productivity

Nitrogen fertilization of canola and wheat grown on fallow fields

Non-Peer ReviewedThis is the second year of a three-year project to assess N fertilizer needs of canola and wheat grown on fallow fields. The project is being carried out at six sites (three in Saskatchewan and three in Alberta) utilizing a uniform protocol of six N rates (0, 20, 30 40 and 50 kg N ha-1 for wheat and 0, 15, 30, 45, 60 and 75 kg N ha-1for canola) arranged in a randomized complete block design. Other nutrients are applied as per soil test requirements. Environmental conditions over the first two years covered the two extremes, i.e., dry in 2003 and wet in 2004. Although the magnitude of response was markedly different between the two years, a response was nevertheless was obtained in both instances with the application of 10 to 30 kg N ha-1 in the drier year and 50 to 75 kg N ha-1 in the wet year. Yield increases in both years were both agronomically and economically significant. Data from this project will be utilized to drawing a strategy for fertilizing crop grown on fallow fields based on agroecological and economic risks

Nitrogen management for yield and protein in wheat in the Brown Soil Zone

Non-Peer Reviewe

Yield and protein response to N fertilization by different cultivars of spring and durum wheat

Non-Peer ReviewedA field study to determine whether there were differences in the response of CWAD and CWRS wheat to N fertilization was conducted in two soils of southwestern Saskatchewan for four years. Using regression techniques we were able to establish that both wheat classes had the same grain yield and protein concentration response to N availability, and that the differences in grain yield and protein concentration between classes observed in the study arose from differences in the response of the classes to available water. Differences in response to water availability among cultivars within each class were too small to be of practical significance. Recommendations for N fertilization of CWAD and CWRS wheats should be based on an N response common to both wheat classes, and on the ratio of the price of wheat to the cost of fertilizer N for each class

Seedling emergence as influenced by aggregate size and bulk density

Non-Peer ReviewedProducers in western Canada are becoming increasingly interested in conservation tillage. A thorough understanding of how seedlings interact with the soil surrounding them is required to develop criteria for designing effective furrow openers and packing devices suitable for use in conservation tillage systems. To facilitate interpretation of the results of a field evaluation study of furrow openers for zero tillage seeders,·we conducted a greenhouse experiment designed to assess the impact of bulk density and aggregate size distribution of the seedbed on the emergence of Hard Red Spring Wheat (Triticum aestivum L). Seeds of wheat (c.v. Lancer) were germinated in seedbeds with five aggregate size distributions with geometric mean diameter ranging from 0.44 to 12.67 mm, and four bulk densities ranging from 1.0 to L6 Mg m-3 arranged in a factorial design. The soil used in this study was taken from the Ap horizon of a Swinton silt loam (Orthic Brown Chernozemic). Number of seedlings emerged and speed of emergence were affected by bulk density and aggregate size of the seedbed, and by the interaction of both variables. In general increasing bulk density or aggregate size reduced and delayed emergence, but in seedbeds with high bulk density or with large aggregates, the effect of the other variable was negligible. Increased bulk density delayed emergence mainly by decreasing the volume of voids in the soil. This elevated the interfacial stress to. the elongating coleoptile. The detrimental effect of increased aggregate size was mainly due to increase in the length of the path the coleoptile had to traverse to reach the soil surface, as it elongated through the inter-aggregate voids. Compaction of the seedbed to achieve the higher bulk densities in the coarser-aggregate seedbeds resulted in substantial breakdown of larger aggregates. Consequently, as the interfacial stress was increased by compaction, the path length was decreased, and both effects cancelled each other

Spring wheat response to nitrogen and water

Non-Peer Reviewe

Using protein to evaluate N fertility in hard red spring wheat

Non-Peer ReviewedGrain protein is an essential factor determining end-use quality of wheat. Grain producers wanting to capture the economic benefits of protein prize premiums are optimizing nitrogen (N) fertilization of their grain crops. It has been suggested that grain protein concentration (GPC) can be used as an indicator of N sufficiency for optimum grain yield. Although this evaluation would be “after the fact”, it would permit grain producers to judge the adequacy of their fertilization program. The objective of this study was to determine if GPC could be used as an index of N sufficiency for hard red spring wheat grown in the semiarid areas of Saskatchewan