Wheat and barley grown every year with proper
fertilization yielded as well as or better than
when grown after fallow without fertilizer. Successful
annual cropping requires: (1) selecting normal medium-textured (not droughty) soils, (2)
controlling weeds, and (3) applying adequate
nitrogen and sulfur. In general, annual cropping is
a soil-conserving practice

Case, C.W.

Massee, T.W.

Painter, C.G.

Rosenau, R.C.

Northwest Irrigation & Soils Research Laboratory Publications

Cropping and Fertilizing Wheat and Barley in the Camas Prairie - Fairfield Area

USDA - ARS - NWISRL

University of IdahoCollege of AgricultureCooperative Extension ServiceAgricultural Experiment StationN-S	 N-S N-S0 10  50 10 100 10	 0 10FALLOWON 1111SHMEADN-S50 10ANNUALCROPW4 IliN-S100(0Current Information Series No. 278April 1975Cropping and Fertilizing Wheat and BarleyIn the Camas Prairie	 Fairfield AreaT. W. Massee, R. C. Rosenau, C. W. Case, C. G. PainterWheat and barley grown every year with pro-per fertilization yielded as well as or better thanwhen grown after fallow without fertilizer. Suc-cessful annual cropping requires: (1) selecting nor-Precipitation in the Camas Prairie usually ranges be-tween 14 and 17 inches per year. About three-quarters ofit comes in the winter as snow. A high water table is nor-mally found in the spring, even on fields cropped the previousyear. Therefore, fallowing does not usually increase the stor-ed soil moisture.Fallowing does increase available nitrogen and sulfur andhelps control weeds. During 3 years, 33 experiments wereconducted near Fairfield in Camas County to determine iffertilizers could meet nutrient requirements and if 2, 4-Dcould replace fallowing for weed control in an annual crop-ping system.Selecting Fields for Annual CroppingMost medium-textured soils can be successfully croppedevery year. These soils included the Simonton, Brinegar,Rands and Strom series. Some gravel in the soil profile canbe tolerated though not so much to restrict root develop-ment and soil moisture movement. Coarse-textured Ricetonsandy loam soil produced poor crops of wheat and barleyComparable bundle yield samples from fallow and annual crop-ping plots on the Arlin Ash mead farm near Fairfield.mat medium-textured (not droughty) soils, (2)controlling weeds, and (3) applying adequatenitrogen and sulfur. In general, annual cropping isa soil-conserving practice.when cropped annually because of its low water-holdingcapacity. Cleek loam has an impervious subsoil so it produceda spotty crop, depending on variations in the subsoil.Weeds must also be controllable without fallow, for suc-cessful annual cropping. If herbicides such as 2, 4-D or MCPwill not control weeds, summerfaliow may be needed. Whenfallowing for weed control, every effort should be made toeliminate weeds. For example, perennial weeds should notbe allowed to grow, nor should annual weeds be allowed togo to seed. However, cultivation during the fallow for otherthan weed control is usually not warranted.Balancing Nitrogen and SulfurCereals grown without sulfur (S) were yellow, small andunthrifty, especially when nitrogen (N) was applied underannual cropping (Fig. 1). On soils low in S, as on the CamasPrairie, at least 1 pound of available S is needed for every10 pounds of N applied. S is available in ammonium sulfate(24% S), gypsum (18% 51 and in several liquid fertilizers.Although ammonium sulfate contains more S than is neededfor the N it contains, the extra S will neither harm nor helpthe yield. A blend of two or more fertilizers can be mixedcommercially to provide the desired ratio of N to S (10 to 11.In another study on the Camas Prairie, most of the sulfurfrom either ammonium sulfate or gypsum leached out of thetop 1 foot of soil during the winter." Therefore, either productmust be applied in the spring for maximum use by the seed-ling. The fertilizer should be applied before or at planting.Unless elemental sulfur 1100% 5) is ground extremely fineor used in large quantities, it will not provide adequate avail-able sulfur immediately.Other FertilizersPhosphorus, potassium and zinc fertilizers were testedbut none proved beneficial in this area. Soil tests for theseelements are reliable and should be used for identifyingproblem areas.' D. T. Westermann. Unpublished data on alfalfa sulfur relation-ships, 1974 Annual Research Report, Snake River ConservationResearch Center, Kimberly.With Sulfur\Without Sulfur25	 50	 75	 100NITROGEN APPLIED — lbs/AFig. 1. Wheat yield response to nitrogen fertilizer with andwithout adequate sulfur on annually cropped plots(data from two years).On Follow450040350T-30›-42520Annually Cropped50	 75	 100150On Follow25NITROGEN lbs/A(Adequate Sulfur Included)co 25W 0T- 201 500"-Annual Cropped25	 50	 75	 100NITROGEN lbs /A(Adequate Sulfur Included)Fig. 2. Wheat yield response to nitrogen rates, with adequatesulfur, under two cropping systems.Fig. 3. At right: Barley yield response to nitrogen rates undertwo cropping systems.Wheat Yields and QualityYields of 24 bushels per acre were produced with 75lbs N/acre (with S) applied to annually cropped wheat orwith 25 lbs N/acre (with S) applied to wheat after fallow(Fig.	 Wheat test weight and protein content were aboutequal under fallow and annual cropping with various N Sapplication rates. Therefore, on selected fields and with che-mical weed control, annual cropping with sufficient N and Sprovides an economic advantage.Barley Yields and QualityBarley yields from annual cropping with 75 lbs N/acre(with 5) were about equal to yields from fallow plots fertilizedwith 25 lbs N/acre (38 bushels per acre). Yield curves areshown in Fig. 3.Barley test weight and kernel size were good from mosttreatments, although slightly below malting grade on somenonfertilized annually cropped plots. The protein content wasabout 9 percent, acceptable for malting but slightly low forfeed barley. Other micro-malting tests showed that the bar-ley had a good malting quality.Therefore, annual cropping barley with proper fertiliza-tion on selected fields where weeds can be controlled pro-vides an economic opportunity.Acknowledgements — The authors appreciate the co-operation of Camas Prairie residents who donated use ofland for experimental sites. These were Arlin Ashmead,Doran Cluer, Floyd Crandall, Lawrence Davis, John Gaskill,G winn Rice, Bill Simon and Keith Strom. Asgrow ResearchCenter provided an electronic seed counter, and CoorsBrewery ran barley micro-malting tests.This publication reports on research conducted cooperatively by the Western Region, Agricultural Re-search Service, USDA; the Soil Conservation Service, and the University of Idaho College of Agriculture.T. W. Massee is Soil Scientist and R. C. Rosenau is Research Technician (Soils). Snake River Conser-vation Research Center, Kimberly. C. W. Case is Soil Scientist, Soil Conservation Service, Gooding.C. G. Painter is Extension Soils Specialist, University of Idaho Research and Extension Center, TwinFalls.Issued in furtherance of cooperative extension work in agriculture and home economics. Acts of May El and June30. 1914. in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, James L. Graves, Director of CooperativeExtension Service. University of Idaho. Moscow. Idaho 83843. We offer our programs and facilities to all peoplewithout regard to race. creed. color, sex, or national origin.3M 4-75.

https://eprints.nwisrl.ars.usda.gov/id/eprint/1158/1/325.pdf

Cropping and Fertilizing Wheat and Barley in the Camas Prairie - Fairfield Area

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Northwest Irrigation & Soils Research Laboratory Publications

USDA - ARS - NWISRL