Organic producers have expressed an interest in diversifying their crop rotations through the inclusion of winter cereals. Winter cereals have many potential benefits, as they provide soil cover over the winter months, can often out-compete weeds in the spring and can be harvested earlier than other cereal crops. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of management history on the performance of winter cereals versus spring cereals

Hammermeister, Andy

MacKenzie, Joanna

Nelson, Karen

English

Organic Eprints

   1 WINTER AND SPRING CEREAL PRODUCTION IN THE MARITIMES  Final Research Report E2010-56                            BACKGROUND Organic producers have expressed an interest in diversifying their crop rotations through the inclusion of winter cereals. Winter cereals have many potential benefits, as they provide soil cover over the winter months, can often out-compete weeds in the spring and can be harvested earlier than other cereal crops.   This study aimed to evaluate the effect of management history on the performance of winter cereals versus spring cereals.   WHAT WAS DONE The trials were established in the fall of 2008 at the OACC Brookside research fields (Truro, NS) and an organic farm in Freetown, PEI to examine the production of winter cereals: winter wheat (AC Sampson), fall rye (common), spelt (common) and triticale (Titan). The spring cereals: spring wheat (AC Barrie), oats (AC Baton), spring triticale (Bunker) and barley (AC Encore) were planted in early May 2009 for yield and performance comparison.  Small plot research trials were established at the Truro, NS site as strip plots, bisected by previous crop histories. The previous crops consisted of peas as a green manure, oats or buckwheat.    Winter and spring cereals plot trials at the NS site. From left to right: spelt with patchiness due to winterkill, triticale and fall rye (K. Nelson).  Spelt (left) and winter wheat (right) grown under three previous cropping histories at the Truro, NS site (K. Nelson).   The PEI site was established at farm scale also with peas, oats or buckwheat as the previous crops. However, the spring cereals were only planted into a previous crop of fall rye.   The grain was dried and weighed for yield (adjusted for  moisture content to 13.5%), thousand kernel weight (TKW), test weight and protein content.  WHAT HAPPENED Nova Scotia Trial We found no interaction between cropping history (oats, peas or buckwheat,) and cereal crop. However, yield was significantly greater when cereals were grown on a previous crop of peas as opposed to buckwheat (Fig. 1). Crop HistoryOats Buckwheat PeasGrain Yield (kg ha1)050010001500200025003000abab  Figure 1. Grain yield of the winter and spring cereals for the three cropping histories at the Truro, NS site. Bars with the same letter are not significantly different (p<0.05).      2 Spring WheatOatsSpring TriticaleBarleySpeltWinter WheatTriticaleFall RyeGrain Yield (kg ha-1)010002000300040005000abb bccdc Figure 2. Grain yield of the winter and spring cereals for all three cropping histories at the Truro, NS site. Bars with the same letter are not significantly different (p<0.05).    Fall rye had significantly greater yield in comparison to the other winter and spring cereals grown (Fig. 2); and winter cereals yielded higher overall than spring cereals (with the exception of spelt). This is expected as the winter cereals had an earlier start in the field before the weeds began to emerge and compete. Interestingly, spring wheat demonstrated significantly lower yields than all the other cereals in this trial (Fig.1).  These low yields may have been a result of its reduced  vigour, as seeding rate had been adjusted  to compensate for  a  low germination rate (66%) (Fig.2).  Crop HistoryOats Buckwheat PeasGrain Protien (%)024681012 Figure 3. Average grain protein content of all winter and spring cereals for the three cropping at the Truro, NS site. Results are for one replicate only; statistical analysis was not performed.    For the grain protein content we are presenting only preliminary results, further analysis is required. Based on the preliminary data, grain protein did not appear to be affected by the cropping history (Fig. 3). However, the data suggest that there is a trade-off  between grain yield and protein content. Typically cereals with greater yield had reduced protein content (Fig. 4). Cropping history did not have an effect on thousand kernel weight (TKW) or test weight of the winter and spring cereals (data not shown).  Spring WheatOatsSpring TriticaleBarleySpeltWinter WheatTriticaleFall RyeGrain Protein (%)0246810121416 Figure 4. Grain protein content of the winter and spring cereals at the Truro, NS site. Results are for one replicate only; statistical analysis was not performed.    PEI Trial- Winter Cereals Only In PEI, only the winter cereals were investigated on all three cropping histories. Interestingly, the winter cereals were found to have significantly increased growth on the previous crop of buckwheat, which was opposite to our findings at the NS site. Grain yield and protein content followed the same trends as found at the NS site, with fall rye having overall greatest yields again and spelt the lowest yields (Fig. 5).              The spring cereals oats (top) and spring wheat (bottom) growing at the Truro, NS site under three previous cropping histories (K. Nelson)    3 SpeltWinter WheatTriticaleFall RyeGrain Yield (kg ha-1)05001000150020002500acbbc Figure  5. Grain yield of the individual winter cereals combined for the three previous cropping histories at the PEI site. Bars with the same letter are not significantly different (p<0.05).    Grain protein content was not affected by the previous cropping history (data not shown); however protein content followed the same trend as the NS site. Cereals with higher yields (Fig. 5) tended to have lower protein content (Fig. 6).   Test weight and thousand kernel weight (TKW) were not affected by cropping history, however individual winter cereals had an impact on test weight and TKW. Winter wheat and triticale had significantly greater TKW, followed by fall rye and lastly spelt. For test weight, spelt and winter wheat were significantly higher than other crops, followed by fall rye and lastly triticale (data not shown).  Winter CerealsSpeltWinter WheatTriticaleFall RyeGrain Protein (%)024681012abcbc Figure 6. Grain protein content of the individual winter cereals combined for all three cropping histories at the PEI site. Bars with the same letter are not significantly different (p<0.05).    Spring WheatOatsSpring  TriticaleBarleySpeltWinter WheatTriticaleFall RyeGrain Yield (kg ha-1)05001000150020002500bcbcbcbccbbca Figure 7. Grain yield for winter and spring cereals with a cropping history of cereal only at the PEI site. Bars with the same letter are not significantly different (p<0.05).    PEI Trial- Spring and Winter Cereals  We also investigated the performance of winter and spring cereals at the PEI site on a previous crop of cereal only. Fall rye once more had overall greater yields; however the other cereals tended to perform similarly with the exception of the spelt.   As was demonstrated in the above NS and PEI trials, protein content tended to be inversely related to  grain yield (Fig. 8). This could be attributed to increased growth of fall rye at the early plant stages resulting in higher yield potential, however due to this earlier growth it resulted in protein dilution at seed filling.  Spring WheatOatsSpring  TriticaleBarleySpeltWinter WheatTriticaleFall RyeGrain Protein (%)02468101214 Figure  8. Grain protein for the winter and spring cereals with a cropping history of cereal only,  at the PEI site.      4  Table 1. Grain TKW and test weight for winter and spring cereals with a cropping history of cereal only at the PEI site  Cereal Crop TKW (g) Test Weight  (kg hL-1) Spring Wheat  32.14a  70.14a Oats  31.58a  54.62f Spring  Triticale  36.39a  59.07e Barley  33.11a  54.04f Spelt  17.83b  69.07a Winter Wheat  39.00a  66.82b Triticale  39.06a  62.05d Fall Rye  26.61a  64.62c *Note: Protein content  is not included here as statistical analysis was not performed; protein analysis was made on a composite sample of three subsamples from each plot with a previous cropping history of oats.    TKW was relatively unaffected by the winter and spring cereal crops, whereas test weight had a large range over the eight cereal crops investigated (Table 1).   All fall crops were exposed to winterkill conditions. Spelt by far was most susceptible, with significantly lower stand establishment especially in low areas where surface ice accumulated.       ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thanks to Mark Bernard (Barnyard Organics), Susan MacKinnon (PEIDA), and OACC technicians (Lloyd Rector and Jessica Gillis).  CREDITS Karen Nelson, Joanna MacKenzie and Andy Hammermeister (OACC)  FUNDING Funding for this research and production of this bulletin has been provided in part by:  •  Prince Edward Island ADAPT Council  •  Agri-Futures: Nova Scotia’s AACAF Council  •  New Brunswick Agricultural Council  •  Atlantic Canadian Organic Regional Network (ACORN)  •  Nova Scotia Department of Agriculture  •  Prince Edward Island Department of Agriculture  •  Nova Scotia Agricultural College (NSAC), Department of Plant and Animal Sciences        THE BOTTOM LINE… In comparing winter and spring cereals, fall rye was highest yielding but of lowest quality. Winter wheat and triticale are at least as productive as spring barley and oats; winter wheat and triticale can be a valuable addition to the crop rotation for feed grains. Of the winter cereals tested, spelt proved most susceptible to winterkill. For more information: Visit oacc.info or contact us at P. O. Box 550 Truro, NS B2N 5E3 Tel: (902) 893-7256   Fax: (902) 896-7095  Email: oacc@nsac.ca 

Winter and Spring Cereal Production in the Maritimes

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