Progress 10/01/10 to 09/30/15
Outputs
Target Audience:Includes farmers, crop consultants, extension personnel, and companies interested in bioenergy feedstocks. Changes/Problems:The main challenge of this s project was the lack of funding. Forages do not have commodity groups funding and federal funding is very limited. Bioenergy crops was popular when I started the project in 2010 and I was able to secure some funding then, but funding is limited now. Funding in energy crops for the next 5 years will be difficult to obtain. Currently, cover crops is a research priority for NIFA and fortunately I was able to secure funding for the next five years. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?I have been the major advisor of six graduate students during this project, 3 MS students and 3 PhD Johanna Lukaschewsky MS (May 2016) Economic and energy balance analysis of novel cropping systems Dulan Samarappuli Ph.D. (May 2016) Productivity and life cycle analysis analysis of novel cropping systems in North Dakota Osvaldo Teuber Ph.D. (May 2016) Agronomic studies of forage brassicas and cover crops in North Dakota Alfredo Aponte Ph.D. (December 2015) Cropping systems for forage and biomass feedstocks production in North Dakota Dulan Samarappuli MS (April 2013) Cover crops for forages/bioenergy crops Robynn Anfinrud MS (June 2012) Nitrogen fertility for bioenergy crops Professional Development: My research in bioenergy crops has resulted in many direct and indirect collaborations: 1. Research collaboration with the University of Bologna, Italy (3 publications as co-author) 2. Part of the scientific committee of the Annual European Biomass Conference 3. President and active member of the Association for the Advancement of New Crops. 4. I was invited to teach to a Bioenergy crops teaching workshop to Lisbon, Portugal in 2014. 5. Thanks to my international visibility in energy crops I was able to organize a study abroad course (PLSC379/779) in energy crops in Europe in the summer of 2013 and 2015. My research in forages has provided several opportunities for me. 1. Although my research funds are very limited I have been able to continue my participation in the top Forage organizations in the US, National Alfalfa and Forage Alliance (NAFA), and Midwest Forage Association (MFA) (Board member) 2. Thanks to my visibility in the forage research area I was elected chair of the C6, Forage and Grazinglands Division, ASA 2015-2016. 3. I am the North Dakota representative to the NCCC-31 Ecophysiological Aspects of Forage Management committee My research in cover crops has resulted in many direct and direct collaborations and outreach: 1. I am the North Dakota representative of the NCCC-21 "Cover crops to improve agricultural sustainability and environmental quality in the upper Midwest" committee (chair in 2016) and board member of the Midwest Cover Crop Council (2015-2017) 2. I was one of the author collaborators of the Second edition of the Midwest Cover Crops Field Guide 3. I have been invited as a speaker to numerous field days, plot tours, conferences, and winter talks with farmers about cover crops. I have been able to communicate to farmers the knowledge acquired in cover crops in my research. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Peer reviewed publications, conferences and symposium presentations, extension publications, forages website, phone calls, field days, winter talk meetings, plot tours. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Impact statement The forage program at NDSU is the only program that provides non-biased information on theperformance of forages in ND. The optimization of alfalfa management greatly impacts theproductivity. The studies in alfalfa fall dormancy, fall harvest, and alfalfa-grass mixturesincreased forage yield on average at least 0.3 ton/acre/yr. Pure alfalfa acreage in ND was 395,711acres and alfalfa grass mixtures 1,000,961 acres. An increase in forage yield of 0.3 tons/acre x1,396,672 acres at a price of$100/ton of hay equals an economic impact of $41,900,160. It is difficult to provide the monetaryimpact of bioenergy crops in ND because there is currently no commercial production of energy cropsin the state. Legume cover crops planted after wheat in one of our studies reduced the need of fertilizing in corn in 100 lbs N/acre. With a N credit of only 50 lbs/acre, the economic value ofreducing the fertilization in corn in 2,693,677 acres x 50 lbs N/acre saving x $0.3 lb N, is$40,405,169/year. Also,recent results indicate that radish planted as a cover crop in the fall increases corn yield asmuch as 15%. Yield difference was 34 bu/acre at a $3.0/bu. This is a gain of $102/acre, radish planting cost (seed + planting approx. $30/acre). An increased revenue of $72/acre in 2,693,677acres could amount to $193,944,744. Obj. 1. Activities included testing of private and public alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) conventional and RR™varieties, forage sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench], cool- and warm-season annual forages, andforage brassicas for forage yield at several locations in ND. Results from 2010 to 2015 arepublished in the forages website (http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/plantsci/forage/index.html). Alfalfa experiments during my project included: a) alfalfa fall dormancy, b) alfalfa-grass mixturesperformance, c) seeding rate and plant density, d) corn silage-alfalfa rotational system, and e) slow P-releasing fertilizers onregrowth after harvest. a) Alfalfa fall dormancy and fall harvest: The 4-cut system, which included a fall harvest, hadsignificantly greater seasonal forage yield. Fall harvest increases seasonal forage yield in theseeding year and in most production years without increasing the risk of winter kill or plant standreduction. b) Alfalfa grass mixtures: The objective was to evaluate the agronomic potential of 13 grasses inmonoculture, alfalfa in monoculture, and 10 alfalfa-grass mixtures to determine the binary mixtureor sole crop yield potential, forage quality, and persistence. All species produced higher forageyield in binary mixtures with alfalfa than in monoculture. Alfalfa-grass mixtures are a goodalternative to alfalfa or grass monocultures because they improve productivity, forage quality, andstand persistence. c) Seeding rate and plant density: Increasing seeding rate to 22 lbs/acre did not increase yield,plant density, or forage quality, maximum yield was with 13 lbs/acre. In both, a 5- and 8-year oldstand, the maximum forage yield was obtained with 3 to 4 plants /ft2 and 25 to 30 stems/ft2. d) Silage corn-alfalfa intercropping: The objective of this research was to evaluate theproductivity and profitability of a corn- alfalfa intercropping system, with the aim to increasealfalfa productivity in the first year of production. Corn biomass yield in monoculture was notdifferent than the biomass yield in corn intercropped with alfalfa. Alfalfa intercropped with cornin 2014 accumulated more than twice the biomass of alfalfa seeded in the spring of 2015. Thissystem can provide a head start for alfalfa skipping the typical low productivity of the seedingyear. e) P fertilizer: Slow release fertilizers applied after the first cut in the first year ofproduction increased regrowth and forage yield in the second harvest. Obj. 2. Sixteen different crops in different experiments were analyzed to determine their potential asfeedstock's for bioenergy in ND. Forage sorghum (FS) was consistently the crop with the greatestbiomass yield and potential lignocellulosic feedstock for biofuels. FS is energy efficient, has theability to produce high yield under drought conditions, and has low production inputs. a) Switchgrass biomass yield is less than 5 tons/acre in ND, needs rainfall to grow andestablishment is difficult. As a general recommendation to growers, switchgrass should be seeded nodeeper than 0.5 inch. b) Miscanthus x giganteus was established from rhizomes in 2010, 2011, and 2012. All plants werewinter-killed. Miscanthus is not sufficiently winter hardy for ND. c) Reed canarygrass (Phalaris arundinacea L.) average biomass yield was only 2.2 tons/acre. Itis slow to establish and yield is low. It is suggested that 90 lbs N/acre be applied to the crop inthe seeding year. d) Forage sorghum was the highest yielding biomass crop in ND. An N fertility study indicatedthat forage sorghum responded up to 152 lbs N/acre. e) Forage-corn intercropping: The objective of this research was to evaluate the yield advantage ofgrowing corn and FS in the same or alternate rows to improve resiliency on biomass yieldproduction. Within-row and inter-row intercropping of grain corn and FS is a good alternativeforage production system in ND. f) Double and relay-intercropping: Eleven crop sequences composed of double- and relay-croppingof FS, soybean, and corn, following winter camelina (Camelina sativa L.) were evaluated. Both FS inmonocrop and the camelina-FS relay treatment showed good potential for biofuel and energy feedstockproduction in the NGP. Obj. 3. Cover crops (CC) variety trials were established every year since 2010. All results of biomassyield, and N uptake are available in the forages web page. a) CC/forage crops: Forage pea produced the highest biomass dry matter yield (1.6 tons/acre) inthe fall. Forage pea N uptake was 114 lbs N/acre, significantly higher than all other CCs. Turnipand radish N uptake fluctuated between 61 and 70 lbs N/acre. Also, corn and FS planted in thespring on the residue of the winter-killed CCs had 0.9 to 3.1 tons/acre greater biomass yield thanthe check. b) Forage brassicas: Kale (Brassica oleracea L.) cv. Maris Kestrel had the highest total biomassyield, 4.5 tons d.m./acre. An earlier seeding date increased forage yield in all forage brassicas.Kale and swede had the highest forage yields when seeded early in May. Kale and swede were muchhigher yielding than forage rape regardless of the plant density. Brassica cover crop biomass hadbiomass yielded up to 2.5 tons/acre in only 80 d of growth. Forage brassicas are frost tolerant andsurvive well into Nov. providing a high quality livestock forage resource late in the fall. c) Winter camelina/corn and soybean: A study to evaluate winter camelina as a potential CC onsoybean and corn was started in 2014. Winter camelina interseeded with corn survived the winter,provided cover in the fall and spring, and early flowering for pollinators. d) Turnip-radish/corn: turnips and radishes were planted in the fall of 2014 to determine theeffect of them on corn and soybean following them. Results indicated that radish and turnip canscavenge up to 100 lbs N/acre from the soil and increase biomass and grain yield in 15% in cornplanted following the CC. e) Biostrips, polycultures: Strips of several flower and grasses mixtures were planted with theobjective to increase pollen sources for bees while improving soil health.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Berti, M.T., R.W., Gesch, B.L. Johnson, Y. Ji, W. Seames, and A. Aponte. 2015. Double- and relay-cropping of energy crops in the Northern Great Plains. Ind. Crops Prod. 75B:26-34.
- Type:
Book Chapters
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Chen, C. and M.T. Berti. 2015. Oilseed-based feedstocks. In Li, Y, and S.K. Khanal (Eds.). Bioenergy: Principles and Applications. John Wiley Publ., New York.
- Type:
Book Chapters
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Berti, M.T. and R.W. Gesch. 2014. Cuphea Production and Management. p. 291-314. In Cruz, M. and D. Dierig (Eds.) Industrial Crops: Breeding for BioEnergy and Bioproducts. Handbook of Plant Breeding Series. Springer, NY.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Berti, M.T., D. Samarappuli, A. Aponte, O. Teuber, J. Lukaschewsky, D. Undersander, and R.W., Gesch. 2015. Intercropping Maize and Forage Sorghum for Biogas Production in the North Central Region, USA. p. 159-163 In 23rd European Biomass Conference and Exhibition.1-6 June, 2015, Vienna, Austria Available at http://www.etaflorence.it/proceedings/index.asp.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Berti, M.T., 2015. How to select a cover crop to maximize the benefits of having a cover crop. 11th Conservation Tillage Conference. Wilmar, MN. 15-16 December, 2015. Invited speaker.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Lukaschewsky, J., A. Aponte, M.T. Berti, D. Samarappuli, O. Teuber, D. Undersander. 2015. Intercropping Silage Corn and Alfalfa in Eastern North Dakota, USA. ASA-CSSA-SSSA International Annual Meetings. Minneapolis, MN. 15-18 November 2015.
Hanson, B.K., B.L. Johnson, A. Hermann, T.W. Hakanson, L.E. Henry, M.T. Berti, and P.J. Petersen. Future meeting. Industrial hemp performance in North Dakota. In Proc. ASA, CSSA, SSSA Annual Meetings, Minneapolis, MN. Nov. 15-18 2015.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Johnson, B.L., B.K. Hanson, A. Hermann, M.T. Berti, and P.J. Petersen. Screening industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) varieties for adaptation in North Dakota. 27th Annual Meeting of the Association for the Advancement of Industrial Crops (AAIC), Lubbock, TX, 18-22 October 2015.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Maharlooei, M., Sivarajan, S., S.C. Bajwa, J.F. Nowatzki, and M.T. Berti. 2015. Feasibility study of employing new approach to estimate nutritional indices in alfalfa crop. ASABE, Annual meeting. New Orleans, LA. 26-29 July 2015.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Berti, M.T., O. Teuber, D. Samarappuli, A. Aponte, J. Lukaschewsky, G. Gramig, D. Ripplinger, A. Wick, C. Heglund, E.M. Gaugler, K.K. Sedivec, D.L. Whitted, B.W. Neville, S. Zwinger, S. Schaubert, and P. Carr. 2015. North Dakota report 2014. Annual Midwest Cover Crops Council conference. Ames, IA., 16-19 February, 2015.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Berti, M.T. 2015. Developing a fast method to appraise alfalfa for multi-peril crop insurance. National Insurance Crop Services, Annual Meeting, Morton, MN, 7-8 January 2015. Invited speaker.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Berti, M.T., and A. Wick. 2015. How to select a cover crop or cover crop mix? NDSU Forages webpage. Available at: http://www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu/research/plantsciences/forages
Berti, M.T., 2015. 10 reasons to plant alfalfa-grass mixtures for hay. Forage Focus, December 2015.p. 8.
Berti, M.T. 2015. What is the best method to estimate forage yield in older alfalfa stands? Plants vs. stems. Forage Focus, March 2015. p. 21
Berti. M.T. 2015. Alfalfa forage yield in the seeding year: Get your alfalfas potential in the bale. Clippings. Midwest Forage Assoc. February 2015. Available at http://www.midwestforage.org/newsletter/150218clippings.htm
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Johnson, B.L., M.T. Berti, S. Dash, P.K. Gilbertson, K. Sahu, and P.J. Petersen. 2015. Screening new crops for adaptation promotes agricultural sustainability. In Proc. 2nd International Conference on Sustainable Agriculture and Environment. Selcuk University, Konya, Turkey, Sept. 30 - Oct. 3, 2015.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Berti, M.T., D. Samarappuli, A. Aponte, O. Teuber, J. Lukaschewsky, and D. Undersander. 2015. Perennial cool-season grasses potential as bioenergy crops in the northern Great Plains, USA. In Perennial Biomass crops for a Resource Constrained World. Univ. of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany. September 7-10 2015.
|
Progress 10/01/13 to 09/30/14
Outputs
Target Audience: Includes farmers, crop consultants, extension personnel, and companies interested in bioenergy feedstocks. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? My research in bioenergy crops has resulted in many direct and indirect collaborations: 1. Research collaboration with the University of Bologna, Italy (3 publications as co-author) 2. Part of the scientific committee of the Annual European Biomass Conference 3. The annual AAIC meeting was in Athens, Greece in 2014, thanks to my collaboration with CRES bioenergy crops research group in Greece. Also, I am the president elect of AAIC 2015-2016. 4. I was invited to teach to a Bioenergy crops teaching workshop to Lisbon, Portugal. My research in forages has provided several opportunities for me. 1. Although my research funds are very limited I have been able to continue my participation in the top Forage organizations in the US., National Alfalfa and Forage Alliance (NAFA), and Midwest Forage Association (MFA) (Board member) 2. Thanks to my visibility in the forage research area I was elected chair of the C6, Forage and Grazinglands Division, ASA 2015-2016. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Peer reviewed publications, conferences and symposium presentations, extension publications, forages website, phone calls, field days. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? I will continue evaluating the experiments already established in the field and I expect to complete a few of them in 2015. A new variety trial of sorghum and forage brassicas will be established, but only with the entries requested by companies. I will continue writing grants in the three areas of my research to secure funding. I have collected a lot of good research data the last five years. I have a lot of information that needs to be analyzed and published, thus I plan to dedicate most of my 2015 year to write and submit publications of the studies completed in 2014 and before. I plan to add economic and life cycle analysis (LCA) to the cropping systems experiments already concluded. My students and I are planning to learn to use the SIMAPRO software for LCA analysis therefore, the data collected can be analyzed further and more publications can be generated. As every year, I am part of the scientific committee of the European Biomass Conference, which will be in Vienna, Austria. I am the president elect in the Association for the Advancement for Industrial Crops, Greece, and chair of the C6 division for the 2015 ASA meeting. I will take a second group of students in the study abroad course in Bioenergy crops to Europe in June 2015.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Impact statement The forage program at NDSU is the only program that provides non-biased information on the performance of forages in North Dakota. Also, I frequently receive calls and questions from area growers or extension agents about forage and cover crop cultivars selection and production management. The information generated by the research in this project allows me to give growers advice to improve their forage crops performance and quality. The optimization of alfalfa management (fertility, seeding rate, and harvest frequency) greatly impacts the productivity. The studies in alfalfa fall dormancy, fall harvest, and alfalfa grass mixture will increase the forage yield on average at least 0.3 ton/acre/year. Pure alfalfa acreage in North Dakota was 395,711 acres and alfalfa grass mixtures 1,000,961 acres (USDA Farm Service Agency, 2014). An increase in forage yield of 0.3 tons/acre x 1,396,672 acres at a price of $100/ton of hay equals an economic impact of $41,900,160. Any improvement in yield in alfalfa or reduction of cost by management has a tremendous economic impact. Forages are third in place in value and acreage among all other crops in the USA. North Dakota is the second most important state in alfalfa acreage in the USA. My program has additional impact by testing new forage sources and improving the management of the existing ones. Sorghums, forage brassicas, and other annual forages economic impact is difficult to estimate, because most benefits are indirect. Cover crop acreage in 2013 was 218,000 acre in North Dakota and there is a need of information in management of cover crops. My project also includes bioenergy crops and cover crops research. The impact value of these are hard to estimate, but as a reference, legume cover crops planted after wheat in one of our studies (Samarappuli et al., 2014) reduced the need to fertilize corn by 100 lbs N/acre. With a N credit of only 50 lbs/acre, the economic value of reducing the fertilization in corn in 2,693,677 acres x 50lbs N/acre saving x $0.3 lb N, is $40,405,169. The impact of forage and cover crop production research in North Dakota is much greater than what is thought. Unfortunately, available funding for forage and cover crop research state wide is minimal. Objectives: 1. To improve existing forage production practices and evaluate new perennial and annual forages in North Dakota. Forages: Activities include testing of private and public alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) conventional and Roundup Ready™ cultivars, forage and sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.), and forage brassicas for forage yield performance at three locations in North Dakota. Results are published in the forages website (http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/plantsci/forage/index.html). Other research in forages includes seeding rate study in alfalfa, which was started in 2013 and continued in 2014.This research is being funded by the National Crop Insurance Services. But also the Midwest Forage Association funded part of the research in 2014. The primary goal of this research is to develop an easy method to appraise alfalfa for multi-peril insurance. Interestingly, the results for the seeding year have been very useful to demonstrate growers that spending money in higher seeding rate does not pay in forage yield or quality. Alfalfa optimum seeding rate in alfalfa is 10-12 kg/ha. A new study in corn silage-alfalfa rotational system was started in Fargo and Prosper and is part of the MS project of my new student. The yield in the seeding year of alfalfa is low. In order to overcome this low yield, alfalfa can be seeded with the corn silage crop the year before the grower is planning to turn the field into alfalfa. This way, the seeding year of alfalfa happens under the corn so the next year alfalfa has the typical yield of a first production year. Also, two small studies in alfalfa requested by private companies were conducted. The first was to test several P-releasing fertilizers and their effect on forage yield and quality in the first year. This was conducted in Fargo and Ekre, ND. Both soils had less than 10 ppm P. The second study was to determine the effect of several foliar fertilizer mixtures on recovery and regrowth of alfalfa after the second cut. Unfortunately there were no significance difference among treatments for forage yield and quality. 2. To introduce and evaluate biomass crops as a new bioenergy component of existing cropping systems in North Dakota. Bioenergy crops: The following experiments were conducted in the 2014 growing season: switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) seeding depth and fertility trial (5th year), forage and sweet sorghum for bioenergy (37 entries), all these studies were replicated at two locations Fargo and Prosper, ND. The switchgrass was terminated this year and the Miscanthus planted in 2010, 2011, and 2012 were all winterkilled last winter. The sorghum-corn intercropping study was repeated this year in Fargo. The objective of this research is to evaluate the yield advantage of growing corn and sorghum in the same or alternate rows. The objective of this study is to get stable biomass production year after year and reduce the fluctuation in yield caused by excess or lack of rainfall or low or high temperatures. Each crop thrives best in different conditions so the final outcome should be similar. This system can be used for forage or biomass feedstock for biogas or energy production. 3. To evaluate the impact of annual/perennial forages in intercropping, as cover crops, and living mulches on crop productivity and soil quality in North Dakota. Cover crops: A research project focused on forage brassicas as alternative forage and cover crops was initiated in 2012 and it has been concluded in 2014. This project consists of several studies concerned with seeding date, N fertility, and plant density in brassica's for forage or full season crops and cover crops in three locations in North Dakota. Results indicate forage brassicas are a high yield and quality forage resource as forage supplement in the summer and for grazing late in the fall. A new cover crops study was planted in the fall to determine the effect of turnips and radishes on corn and soybean the following season. Also, a new preliminary study on biostrips and polycultures, was started in 2014. Only two strips of several flower and grasses mixtures were planted in Fargo, ND. The objective of this study is to increase pollen sources for bees while protecting the soil from erosion and filtering dust from gravel roads. The proposal was submitted to a NIFA -Agroecosystem Management program. The project was not funded this year, but we were highly encouraged to resubmit the proposal in 2015, after making the modifications suggested by reviewers.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Samarappuli, D., B.L. Johnson, H. Kandel, and M.T. Berti. 2014. Biomass yield and nitrogen content of annual energy/forage crops preceded by cover crops. Field Crops Res. 167:31-39.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Berti, M.T., B.L. Johnson, R. Gesch, A. Aponte, J. Luckaschewsky, Y. Ji, and W. Seames. 2014. Energy balance of relay- and double-cropping systems for food, feed, and fuel in the North Central Region, USA. p. 103-107 In 21st European Biomass Conference and Exhibition. 23-27 June, 2014, Hamburg, Germany. Available at http://www.etaflorence.it/proceedings/index.asp (verified 10 July 2014).
- Type: Conference Papers and Presentations
Status: Other
Year Published: 2014
Citation:
Aponte, A., E. Deckard, R.W. Gesch, B.L. Johnson, D. Samarappuli, O. Teuber, and M.T. Berti. 2014. Double- and relay-cropping systems of oilseed and biomass crops for sustainable energy production. ASA-CSSA-SSSA International Annual Meetings. 2-6 November 2014, Long Beach, CA.
Samarappuli, D., A. Aponte, O. Teuber, R.W. Gesch, and M.T. Berti. 2014. Intercropping corn and forage sorghum for hay production in North Dakota. ASA-CSSA-SSSA International Annual Meetings. 2-6 November 2014, Long Beach, CA.
Gesch, R.W., D.W. Archer, M.T. Berti, and A. Aponte. 2014. ASA-CSSA-SSSA International Annual Meetings. 2-6 November 2014, Long Beach, CA.
Teuber, O., A. Aponte, L.J. Cihacek, E.L. Deckard, B.L. Johnson, D. Samarappuli, K. Sedivec, and M.T. Berti. 2014. Performance and production of brassicas cover crops in North Dakota. ASA-CSSA-SSSA International Annual Meetings. 2-6 November 2014, Long Beach, CA.
Berti, M.T., R. Nudell, D.J. Undersander, and M. Zarnstorff 2014. Do higher alfalfa seeding rates increase forage yield and quality in the seeding year? Alfalfa grass mixtures performance for Forage/Biomass Production in North Dakota. North American Alfalfa Improvement Conference. 8-10 July, 2014, Lethbridge, AB, Canada. Abstracts available at www.naaic.org.
Lamb, J., C. Sheaffer, and M.T. Berti. 2014. Winter injury and survival of intensively managed modern alfalfa varieties. North American Alfalfa Improvement Conference. 8-10 July, 2014, Lethbridge, AB, Canada. Abstracts available at www.naaic.org.
Aponte. A., B.L. Johnson, E. Deckard, K. Sedivec, R.W. Gesch, D.J. Undersander, and M.T. Berti. 2014. Alfalfa grass mixtures performance for Forage/Biomass Production in North Dakota. North American Alfalfa Improvement Conference. 8-10 July, 2014, Lethbridge, AB, Canada. Abstracts available at www.naaic.org.
Samarappuli, D., R. Gesch, and M.T. Berti. 2014. Intercropping corn and forage sorghum for silage production in North Dakota. North American Alfalfa Improvement Conference. 8-10 July, 2014, Lethbridge, AB, Canada. Abstracts available at www.naaic.org.
Berti, M.T. 2014. Cropping systems and energy sorghum production management. Summer School 2014 FIBRA project. Lignocellulosic crops as feedstock for future biorefineries. Nova University of Lisbon, 26-31 July, 2014, Lisbon, Portugal.
Berti, M.T., B.L. Johnson, R. Gesch, Y. Ji, K. Alisala, S. Menon, A. Aponte, S.R. Kamireddy, J. Luckascheswky, and W. Seames. 2014. Double-and relay-cropping systems for oil and biomass feedstock production in the North Central Region. 2014 North Central Regional SunGrant Center Annual Meeting. 27-28 March, 2014, Minneapolis, MN.
Berti, M.T. 2014. Alternative forages when reserves are low. Annual Symposium Midwest Forage Assoc. 20-22 January 2014, Wisconsin Dells, WI. Midwest Forage Assoc., St. Paul, MN. Invited speaker
Teuber, O., M.T. Berti, E.L. Deckard, B.L. Johnson, L.J. Cihacek, K. Sedivec, and R. Nudell, 2013. Seeding date for different forage brassicas in North Dakota. ASA-CSSA-SSSA International Annual Meetings. 2-7 November 2013, Tampa, FL.
Aponte, A., M.T. Berti, B.L. Johnson, R. Nudell, and D. Undersander. 2012. Alfalfa-grass mixtures performance for biomass production in North Dakota. ASA-CSSA-SSSA International Annual Meetings. 2-7 November 2013, Tampa, FL.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Berti, M.T., H. Kandel, D. Samarappuli, and B.L. Johnson. 2014. Cover crops for fall grazing or as a source of nutrients for subsequent crops. Crop and Pest Report No. 14, North Dakota State Univ. Ext. Serv. 6 August 2014. Available at http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/cpr
Berti, M.T., R. Nudell, D. Undersander, and M. Zarnstorff, 2014. Do Higher Alfalfa Seeding Rates Increase Forage Yield and Quality in the Seeding Year? Forage Focus. May 2014. p. 21-22. Midwest Forage Association, St. Paul., MN.
Midwest Cover Crops Council. 2014. Cover Crops Field Guide 2nd ed. Berti, M.T., among the contributors of this edition.
Berti, M.T. 2014. What to do if there is a forage shortage this spring? Forage Focus. March 2014. p. 4-5. Midwest Forage Association, St. Paul., MN.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Gesch, R., D. Archer, and M.T. Berti. 2014. Dual cropping winter camelina with soybean in the Northern Corn Belt. Agron. J. 106:1735-1745.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Gilbertson, P.K., M.T. Berti, and B.L. Johnson. 2014. Borage cardinal germination temperatures and seed development. Ind. Crops Prod. 46: 202-209 doi:10.1016/j.indcrop.2014.04.046.
- Type:
Book Chapters
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Berti, M.T. and R.W. Gesch. 2014. Cuphea Production and Management. p. In Cruz, M. and D. Dierig (eds.) Industrial Crops: Breeding for BioEnergy and Bioproducts. Handbook of Plant Breeding Series. Springer.
- Type: Conference Papers and Presentations
Status: Other
Year Published: 2014
Heaton E.A., L.A. Schulte, M.T. Berti, H. Langeveld, W. Zegada-Lizarazu, D. Parrish, A. Monti, and F. Milster. 2013. Integrating Food and Fuel: How to Manage a 2G Crop Portfolio. ASA-CSSA-SSSA International Annual Meetings. 2-7 November 2013, Tampa, FL.
Berti, M.T., B.L. Johnson, R.W. Gesch, D. Samarappuli, Y. Ji, W. Seames, and S.R. Kamireddy. 2013. Can forage sorghum become a dedicated energy crop in the northern Great Plains? p. 78 In Dierig, D.A., and M.T. Berti (eds.) 25th Annual AAIC Meeting. New Crops, Bioenergy, biomaterials and sustainability. 12-17 October, 2013, Washington, DC.
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Progress 10/01/12 to 09/30/13
Outputs
Target Audience: Includes farmers, crop consultants, extension personnel, and companies interested in bioenergy feedstocks. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Peer reviewed, extension publications, forages website, phone calls, field days. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? I will continue evaluating the experiments established in forage crops, bioenergy, and cover crops. I will submit publications of the studies ended in 2013 and I plan to add economic and life cycle analysis (LCA) to the cropping systems experiments I have concluded. My students and I are planning to learn to use the SIMAPRO software for LCA analysis, therefore the data collected can be analyzed further and more publications can be generated. I have been invited as a guest speaker at the Midwest Forage Association Annual Meeting, Wisconsin Dells, WI, at the National Cover Crops & Soil Health, Omaha, Nebraska, and as guest lecturer for graduate students in Lisbon, Portugal. Also, I am part of the Scientific committee of the European Biomass Conference , Hamburg, Germany, board member and chair of the general crops division in the Association for the Advancement for Industrial Crops, Greece, and president of the C6 division, ASA meeting. I will take a second group of students in the study abroad course in Bioenergy crops to Europe.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Impact statement The forage program at NDSU is the only program that provides non-biased information on the performance of forages in North Dakota. Also, I frequently receive calls and questions from area growers or extension agents about forage crop cultivar selection and production management. The information generated by the research in this project allows me to give growers advice to improve their forage crops performance and quality. The optimization of alfalfa management greatly impacts the productivity. The studies in alfalfa fall dormancy, fall harvest, and alfalfa grass mixture will increase the forage yield in average in at least 0.3 ton/acre/year. Alfalfa acreage in ND is 413,028 acres and alfalfa grass mixtures 979,395 acres (NASS, 2012). An increase in forage yield from 4 to 4.3 tons/acre x 1,392,423 acres at a price of $100/ton of hay equals an economic impact of $41,772,690. This amount is low since in 2013 hay prices average $400 for good quality alfalfa hay. Even ditch-harvested grass was selling for $150/ton. Any improvement in yield in alfalfa or reduction of cost by management has a tremendous economic impact. The additional impact by increasing forage production by evaluating sorghums, forage brassicas and other annual forages is difficult to estimate but certainly the acreage of this alternative forages is increasing. My project also includes bioenergy crops and cover crops research. The impact value of these are hard to estimate, but as a reference legume cover crops planted after wheat in one of our studies soon-to-be published reduced the need of fertilizing in corn by 100 kg N/ha. The economic value of reducing the fertilization would be: 3491939 acres x 100kg N/ha saving x $0.5 kg N= $174,596,975 The impact of forage and cover crop production research is much greater than what is thought. Unfortunately, available funding for forage research state and country wide is minimal. SBARE does not fund forage and cover crops research directly. Objectives: 1. To improve existing forage production practices and evaluate new perennial and annual forages in North Dakota. Forages: Activities include testing of private and public alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) conventional and Roundup Ready™ cultivars, forage and sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.), forage brassicas, and annual cool- and warm-season cultivars for forage yield performance at four locations in ND. Results are published in the forages website (http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/plantsci/forage/index.html). Also, the evaluation of alfalfa grass-mixtures yields performance and quality, initiated in 2010 was continued in 2013. The Carrington experiment was terminated in 2013 due to drought. The use of alfalfa-grass mixtures improves the digestibility of the forage and reduces the N requirement in comparison with a sole grass pasture. An alfalfa fall dormancy (FD) study to evaluate fall harvest management on yield performance and quality, and winter survival (WS) was started in 2011 at Carrington, Prosper and Streeter, and continued in 2013. Also, an experiment to develop a new protocol to evaluate WS and FD ratings in alfalfa was planted in 2012 and the evaluation continued in 2013, in collaboration with the Univ. of Minnesota and USDA/ARS, St. Paul. A new study of seeding rates, stem and plant density in alfalfa was initiated in 2013 and established at Carrington, Fargo, and Prosper. The objective is to determine the relationship between plants and stem density and yield over the life of the stand. This research is being funded by the National Crop Insurance Services. The goal of this research is to develop an easy method to appraise alfalfa for multi-peril insurance. We evaluated five lines of forage soybean from Puerto Rico this year with excellent productivity. We also evaluate 11 hybrids of sweet sorghum from Texas with excellent biomass yield for silage or biogas production. 2. To introduce and evaluate biomass crops as a new bioenergy component of existing cropping systems in North Dakota. Bioenergy crops: The following experiments were conducted in the 2013 growing season: Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) seeding depth and fertility trial (4th year), Miscanthus x giganteus adaptation evaluation (4rth year), forage and sweet sorghum for bioenergy (28 entries). Each of these studies were replicated at two locations, Fargo and Prosper, ND. The double-cropping and relay-systems experiment, including winter camelina (Camelina sativa L.) and forage sorghum was completed in 2013 as part of Alfredo Aponte's doctoral dissertation. Results from the second year of the experiment indicate that winter camelina seed yield was about 1800 kg/ha with or without a relay-crop planted. Sorghum biomass yield was the greatest at all environments. Sorghum relay- or double-cropping after camelina has potential to lengthen the growing season and produce two feedstocks for biofuels in one season. A sorghum-corn intercropping study is a new research project established in Carrington, Prosper, and Fargo in 2013. The objective of this research is to evaluate the yield advantage of growing corn and sorghum in the same or alternate rows. The objective this study is to get stable biomass production year after year and reduce the fluctuation in yield caused by excess or lack of rainfall or low or high temperatures. Each crop thrives best in different conditions so the final outcome should be similar. This study will be part of the doctoral dissertation project of Dulan Samarappuli. 3. To evaluate the impact of annual/perennial forages in intercropping, as cover crops, and living mulches on crop productivity and soil quality in North Dakota. Cover crops: Cover crops on high-N-extracting crops sorghum and corn for silage or feedstock for bioenergy were evaluated two years including 2013, at Fargo and Prosper, ND. Results of this research indicated you can save up to 100 kg N /ha in the subsequent corn crop. The MS student conducting this research has finished and the publication is in preparation and it will be submitted shortly. A research project focused on forage brassicas as alternative forage and cover crops was initiated in 2012 and continued in 2013. This project consists of several studies concerned with seeding date, N fertility, and plant density in brassica’s for forage or full season crops and cover crops in three locations in North Dakota. Preliminary results indicate forage brassicas are high yield and quality forage resource as forage supplement in the summer and for grazing late in the fall. Several new Vicia species, Lupinus, and other legumes were introduced from Turkey to be evaluated as cover crops in North Dakota.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Zanetti, F., A. Monti, and M.T. Berti. 2013. Challenges and opportunities for new industrial oilseed crops in EU-27: a review. Ind. Crops Prod. 50:580-595.
Zegada-Lizarazu, W., D. Parrish, M.T. Berti, and A. Monti. 2013. Dedicated crops for advanced biofuels: consistent and diverging agronomic points of view between the USA and the EU-27, Biofuels, Bioproducts, and Biorefining online DOI:10.1002/bbb.1430.
Heaton, E. L.A. Schulte, M.T. Berti, H. Langeveld, W. Zegada-Lizarazu, D. Parrish, and A. Monti. 2013. Managing a second-generation crop portfolio through sustainable intensification: Examples from the USA and EU. Biofuels, Bioproducts, and Biorefining. online DOI:10.1002/bbb.1429
Anfinrud, R., L. Cihacek, B.L. Johnson, Y. Ji, and M.T. Berti. 2013. Sorghum and kenaf biomass yield and quality response to nitrogen fertilization in the northern Great Plains of the USA. Ind. Crops Prod. 50:159-165.
Kamireddy, S.R., J. Li, S. Abbina, M.T. Berti, M. Tucker, and Y. Ji. 2013. Converting forage sorghum and sunnhemp into biofuels through dilute acid pretreatment. Ind. Crops Prod. 49:598-69.
Berti, M.T., S.R. Kamireddy, and Y. Ji. 2013. Row spacing affects biomass yield and composition of kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L.) as a lignocellulosic feedstock for bioenergy. J. Sustainable Bioenergy Systems 3: 68-73.
Kamireddy, S.R., J. Degenstein, Y. Ji, and M.T. Berti. 2013. Pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis of kenaf as a potential source for lignocellulosic biofuel and green chemicals. Current Organic Chemistry 17(15):1624-1632.
Solis, A., I. Vidal, L. Paulino, B.L. Johnson, and M.T. Berti. 2013. Camelina seed yield response to nitrogen, sulfur, and phosphorus fertilizer in South Central Chile. Ind. Crops Prod. 44: 132-138.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Submitted
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Berti, M.T., B.L. Johnson, R.W. Gesch, D. Samarappuli, Y. Ji, W. Seames, and S.R. Kamireddy. 2013. Forage sorghum: an excellent feedstock for second generation biofuels in the North Central Region of the USA. p. 160-165. In 21st European Biomass Conference and Exhibition. 2-6 June, 2013, Copenhagen, Denmark, Available at http://www.etaflorence.it/proceedings/index.asp (verified 10 June 2013).
Gesch, R.W., Berti, M.T., B.L. Johnson, A. Aponte, Y. Ji, W. Seames, and D. Archer. 2013 Double- and relay-cropping oilseed and biomass crops for sustainable energy production. p. 372-377 In 21st European Biomass Conference and Exhibition. 2-6 June, 2013, Copenhagen, Denmark, Available at http://www.etaflorence.it/proceedings/index.asp (verified 10 June 2013).
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Submitted
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Berti, M.T., B.L. Johnson, R.W. Gesch, D. Samarappuli, Y. Ji, W. Seames, and S.R. Kamireddy. 2013. Forage sorghum: an excellent feedstock for second generation biofuels in the North Central Region of the USA 21st European Biomass Conference and Exhibition. 2-6 June, 2013, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Gesch, R.W., Berti, M.T., B.L. Johnson, A. Aponte, Y. Ji, W. Seames, and D. Archer. 2013. Double- and relay-cropping oilseed and biomass crops for sustainable energy production. 21st European Biomass Conference and Exhibition. 2-6 June, 2013, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Berti, M.T., A. Aponte, R. Nudell, B.L. Johnson, R. Gesch, Y. Ji, and W. Seames. 2013. Double-and relay-cropping systems for oil and biomass feedstock production in the North Central Region. 2013 North Central Regional SunGrant Center Annual Meeting. 26-27 March, 2013, Chicago, IL
Berti, M.T., A. Aponte, R. Nudell, B.L. Johnson, R. Gesch, Y. Ji, and W. Seames. 2012. Winter camelina and forage sorghum relay-and double-cropping for oil and biomass feedstock production in the North Central Region. p. 47. In McMahan, C.M. and M.T. Berti, (eds.), 24th Annual AAIC Meeting-2012 Developing Sustainable Solutions: Program and Abstracts 12-15 November 2012, Sonoma, CA.
Samarappuli, D., M.T. Berti. 2012. Cover crops impact on energy crops productivity in North Dakota. p. 46. In McMahan, C.M. and M.T. Berti, (eds.), 24th Annual AAIC Meeting-2012 Developing Sustainable Solutions: Program and Abstracts 12-15 November 2012, Sonoma, CA.
Berti, M.T. 2012. Optimizing forage and biomass crop production. Risk Management Research Summit, 2012, Meeting. 7-8 November, 2012, Rochester, MN. Midwest Forage Association, St. Paul, MN.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Berti, M.T. 2013. Fall harvest management of alfalfa cultivars with different fall dormancy. MFRP Research Report Summaries. Forage Focus, August 2013. p. 6.
Undersander, D., and M.T. Berti, 2013. Considerations of best forages choices for late-summer planting and cutting management of alfalfa. MFA Clippings. August, 2013. Midwest Forage Assoc. Available at http://www.midwestforage.org/newsletter/130806clippings.htm
Berti, M.T. Forage sorghum yield trials 2013. Forage Clippings, MFA, March 2013.
Lamb, J., C. Sheaffer, M.T. Berti, 2013. Minnesota-Testing alfalfa varieties for winter survival Forage Focus, March 2013. p.17.
Berti, M.T., and O. Teuber, 2013. Forage brassicas potential as supplemental forage for grazing In North Dakota. Forage Focus, March 2013.p.21-22.
Berti, M.T., O. Teuber, D. Samarappuli, A. Aponte, H. Kandel, P. Carr, S. Zwinger, and E. Eriksmoen. 2013. Cover crops as a source of nitrogen for bioenergy crops, forage for hay and fall grazing, salinity management, and prevented planting. North Dakota-Report for Midwest Cover Crops Council February 2013. Available at:
http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/plantsciences/research/forages/cover-crops, North Dakota State Univ., Fargo, ND.
Berti, M.T. 2012. Drought effects on yield, persistence, quality and management of stands. Forages Focus, December 2012. Midwest Forage Association, St. Paul., MN.
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Progress 10/01/11 to 09/30/12
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Activities in the three areas covered in my research project include, forages, bioenergy crops, and cover crops production. 1) Forages: Activities include testing of private and public alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) conventional and Round up Ready(TM) cultivars, forage sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.), forage brassicas, and annual cool- and warm-season cultivars for forage yield performance at four locations in ND. Results are published in the forages website (http://www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu/plantsci/forage/index.html). Also, the evaluation of alfalfa grass-mixtures yield performance and quality, initiated in 2010 was continued. The use of alfalfa-grass mixtures improves the digestibility of the forage and reduces the N requirement in comparison with a sole grass pasture. The highest yielding forage mixture was for alfalfa-tall fescue. An alfalfa fall dormancy study to evaluate fall harvest management on yield performance and quality, and winter survival (WS) was started in 2011 and continued in 2012. Alfalfa cultivars with fall dormancy (FD) ratings of 2 to 5 were planted at three locations in ND. Also, an experiment to develop a new protocol to evaluate WS and FD ratings in alfalfa was planted in 2012, in collaboration with the Univ. of Minnesota and USDA/ARS, St. Paul. 2) Bioenergy crops: The activities in this project allowed the PI to generate a collaboration agreement with the Biomass research group at the Univ. of Bologna, Italy. Dissemination has been conducted in conferences and symposiums presentations, and in field days and tours. The following experiments were conducted in the 2012 growing season: Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) seeding depth and fertility trial (3rd year), Miscanthus x giganteus adaptation evaluation (3rd year), forage sorghum for bioenergy (18 entries), all these studies were replicated at two locations. The double-cropping and relay-systems experiment including winter camelina (Camelina sativa L.) and forage sorghum were planted in the fall 2011 and spring 2012. Results of first year of the experiments indicate that winter camelina seed yield was about 1700 kg/ha with or without a relay crop planted. Sorghum biomass yield was the greatest at all environments. Sorghum relay- or double-cropping after camelina has potential to lengthen the growing season and produce two feedstocks for biofuels in one season. Sorghum has been identified as the most promising feedstock for biofuel in ND. 3) Cover crops: Cover crops on high-N-extracting crops sorghum and corn for silage or feedstock for bioenergy were evaluated over three years including 2012, at Fargo and Prosper, ND. Part of this research results were published in the proceedings of the European Biomass conference in 2012, and presented at two different conferences in 2012. A research project focused on forage brassicas as alternative forage and cover crops was initiated in 2012. This project consists of several studies concerned with seeding date, N fertility, and plant density in brassica's for forage and cover crops at in three locations in North Dakota. Preliminary results indicate forage brassicas are a very interesting forage resource for grazing late in the fall. PARTICIPANTS: Dr. Marisol T. Berti is the principal investigator of the forage and biomass production project. Robert Nudell (Ag. Research Technician) is responsible for preparing the soil, planting, maintaining, and harvesting experimental plots and cultivar trials, and also coordinating the undergraduate and graduate student's field and greenhouse activities, including sample grinding, data collection and entry, and sample preparation and shipping for forage quality analysis. Training and professional development has included four graduate students. Robynn Anfinrud, my M.S. student graduated in June 2012. Dulan Samarappuli, a M.S. student from Sri Lanka, is conducting research on the use of six cover crops to improve soil fertility and biomass yield of four bioenergy/forage crops. Osvaldo Teuber, a Ph.D. Fulbright scholar from Chile, is conducting research on the use of seven forage brassicas as full season and cover crops to increase the availability of forage during the summer and fall grazing season. Alfredo Aponte, a Ph.D. student from Puerto Rico is conducting research to determine advanced cropping systems for forage and biofuel production in North Dakota. My team works on close collaboration with Dr. Burton Johnson, Plant Sciences, on the development of double-cropping systems including oilseeds/biomass crops. Also Dr. Larry Cihacek, Soils Department is sampling and analyzing the change in soil organic matter on the alfalfa-grass mixtures study. Drs. Kevin Sedivec, School of Natural Resources, and Dr. Joel Caton, Dep. of Animal and Range Sciences collaborate with the forage quality analysis, cover crops for grazing, and the forage brassicas project. Dr. Guojie Wang, Central Grassland Research Center, Streeter, ND is collaborating with the alfalfa fall dormancy experiment and also participates of the forage brassica project. Steve Zwinger, Carrington Research/Extension Center collaborates with the cool- and warm-season annual forages cultivar trials, alfalfa and alfalfa-mixtures experiments at Carrington, ND. My project works in close cooperation with Dr. Russ Gesch, ARS-USDA, Morris, MN, on cropping systems for bioenergy; Dr. Wayne Seames and Dr. Yun Ji, Dept. of Chemical Engineering, Univ. of North Dakota, and Menon &Assoc. regarding analyses of structural carbohydrate composition and study the pretreatment and conversion technologies from the lignocellulosic material generated in my project. Also I have developed an international collaboration with the Biomass crops research group at the Department of Agroenvironmental Science and Technology (DiSTA) - University of Bologna. TARGET AUDIENCES: Includes forage growers, crop consultants, and extension personnel. Field tours in bioenergy crops and cover crops were conducted this summer. Field tours: 1. Adaptation, Quality and Management of Sustainable Biofuel Crops in the West. WERA 1016. 2012 Annual meeting. 6-9 August, 2012, Fargo, ND. Biofuels crop tour at Fargo and Prosper, ND. 2. Invited speaker at the field day ARS-USDA, North Central Soils Laboratory, August, 16, 2012, Morris, MN. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
The cultivar testing of alfalfa, forage sorghum, cool- and warm-season annual forages and grasses enables forage growers to select cultivars tested in an environment similar to their own farm. The forage program at NDSU is the only program that provides non-biased information on the performance of forages in North Dakota. Also, I frequently receive calls and questions from area growers or extension agents about forage crop cultivar selection and production management. The information generated by the research in this project allows me to give growers advice to improve their forage crops performance and quality. The bioenergy crops research is very new and is generating a lot of attention from growers. Although there is not a lignocellulosic bio-refinery being built in North Dakota to process biomass, it is expected to occur in the near future as we prepare to meet the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS2) goal of 36 billion gallons per year (BGY) of liquid fuels by the year 2022, of which 15 BGY are expected to come from dedicated lignocellulosic energy crops. The information on best management production practices generated by my research project will be crucial to answer questions on what crop to select for bioenergy production, how to manage and harvest, and how to have a sustainable cropping system for energy feedstock production. Cover crops have been adopted by many growers in North Dakota mainly to improve soil health, but also to provide nitrogen for the following crop and increase forage availability in the fall. Even though there are over 150,000 acres of cover crops planted every year in North Dakota there is very limited information on species, cultivars, mixtures, and management of cover crops in North Dakota. My research project is generating the information to answer a few of those questions.
Publications
- Berti, M.T., R. Nudell., and D.W. Meyer. 2012. Fall harvesting of alfalfa in North Dakota impacts plant density, yield, and nutritive value. Forage and Grazinglands, doi: 10.1094 (online)
- Berti, M.T., D. Samarappuli, R. Nudell, B.L. Johnson. 2012. Cropping systems for biomass feedstock production in the North Central Region, USA. p. 474-479 In 20th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition. 18-22 June, 2012, Milan, Italy. Available at http://www.etaflorence.it/proceedings/index.asp (verified 10 August 2012).
- Berti, M.T. 2012. Drought effects on yield, persistence, quality and management of stands. Forages Focus, December 2012. Midwest Forage Association, St. Paul., MN.
- Berti, M.T. 2012. Alfalfa/Grass-Mixture Performance in North Dakota. Forage Focus. March 2012. Midwest Forage Association, St. Paul, MN.
- Peterson, P., J. Paulson, and M.T. Berti, 2012. March (Weather) Madness Launches Perennial Forages. Forage Clippings. March 2012. Midwest Forage Association, St. Paul., MN.
- Berti, M.T., A. Aponte, R. Nudell, B.L. Johnson, R. Gesch, Y. Ji, and W. Seames. 2012. Winter camelina and forage sorghum relay-and double-cropping for oil and biomass feedstock production in the North Central Region. p. 47. In McMahan, C.M., and M.T. Berti, (eds.), 24th Annual AAIC Meeting-2012 Developing Sustainable Solutions: Program and Abstracts 12-15 November 2012, Sonoma, CA.
- Samarappuli, D., M. T. Berti. 2012. Cover crops impact on energy crops productivity in North Dakota. p. 46. In McMahan, C.M. and M.T. Berti, (eds.), 24th Annual AAIC Meeting-2012 Developing Sustainable Solutions: Program and Abstracts 12-15 November 2012, Sonoma, CA.
- Berti, M.T. 2012. Optimizing forage and biomass crop production. Risk Management Research Summit, 2012, Meeting. 7-8 November, 2012, Rochester, MN. Midwest Forage Association, St. Paul, MN.
- Berti, M.T. 2012. Adaptation, Quality and Management of Sustainable Biofuel Crops in the West. WERA 1016 committee, 2012 Annual meeting. 6-9 August, 2012, Fargo, ND.
- Samarappuli, D., and M.T. Berti. 2012 Advantages of Using Cover crops before Annual Forage Crops. Risk Management Research Summit, 2012, Meeting. 7-8 November, 2012, Rochester, MN. Midwest Forage Association, St. Paul, MN.
- Berti, M.T., R. Nudell, D. Undersander, and A. Aponte. 2012. Alfalfa-grass mixtures performance in North Dakota. National Alfalfa, Trifolium, and Grasses Conference. 9-12 July, 2012, Ithaca, NY.
- Berti, M.T. 2012. Cropping systems for biomass feedstock production in the North Central Region, USA. Visiting scientist presentation. 28 June, University of Bologna, Italy.
- Berti, M.T., H. Kandel, P. Carr, and S. Zwinger. 2012. Cover crops: North Dakota report. Midwest Cover Crop Council Annual Meeting, 28-29 Feb. West Lafayette, IN.
- Berti, M.T., G. Wang, and R. Nudell. 2012. Fall harvest management of alfalfa cultivars with different fall dormancy. Midwest Forage Association Annual Meeting. 23-25 Jan., 2012, Wisconsin Dells, WI.
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Progress 10/01/10 to 09/30/11
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Activities in the three areas covered in this research project include, forages, bioenergy crops, and cover crop production. 1) Forages: Activities include testing of private & public alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), forage sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) and sudangrass (Sorghum bicolor var. sudanense L.) cultivars and hybrids, and annual cool- and warm-season forages for forage yield performance at Fargo, Prosper, and Carrington, ND. These data are summarized in tables and published at the forages website (http://www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu/plantsci/forage/index.html). Also, the evaluation of alfalfa grass-mixtures yield performance, and forage quality initiated in 2010 was continued. This experiment includes 24 entries of sole alfalfa, sole grass, or mixtures with smooth bromegrass (Bromus inermis L.), meadow bromegrass (Bromus biebersteinii Roemer & J.A. Schultes), orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata L.), tall fescue (Festuca arundinaceae L.), intermediate wheatgrass (Elytrigia intermedia L.), tall wheatgrass (Agropyron elongatum L.), crested wheatgrass (Agropyron desertorum L.), and reed canarygrass (Phalaris arundinaceae L.). The use of alfalfa-grass mixtures improves the digestibility of the forage & reduces the nitrogen requirement in comparison with a sole grass pasture. The highest yielding forage mixture was for alfalfa-tall fescue. An alfalfa fall dormancy study to evaluate fall harvest management on yield performance, winter hardiness, and forage quality was started in 2011. Alfalfa cultivars with fall dormancy ratings of 2, 3, 4, and 5 were planted at Prosper, Carrington, and Streeter, ND. Also a Roundup Ready (TM)(RR) alfalfa experiment was initiated in June 2011, including three RR alfalfa cultivars and three weed control methods (conventional herbicide package, Roundup herbicide package, and check treatment) with the objective to determine the benefits of the RR alfalfa on forage yield and quality. 2) Bioenergy crops: The following experiments were conducted in the 2011 growing season: Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) seeding depth and fertility trial, miscanthus (Miscanthus x giganteus) adaptation evaluation, forage sorghum for bioenergy, kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L.) plant density, fertility and harvest studies, reed canary grass harvest and fertility study. All these studies were replicated at two locations. Also, a Sungrant initiative grant was awarded to work on double-cropping systems for bioenergy production including winter camelina (Camelina sativa L.) and forage sorghum. Winter camelina was planted in August 2011 at Prosper and Carrington, ND. 3) Cover crops: These experiments were initiated in the fall of 2010. Six different cover crops were planted, harvested, and evaluated and four forages/bioenergy crops were planted on the same plots the following spring (2011). Forage pea (Pisum sativum L. cv. Arvika) had the highest dry matter yield (3238.3 kg/ha) followed by forage turnip Pasja [hybrid forage brassica (forage turnip X forage rape)], forage radish (Raphanus sativus var. niger cv. Daikon) purple top turnip (Brassica rapa var. rapa), and hairy vetch (Vicia villosa L.). PARTICIPANTS: Dr. Marisol T. Berti is the principal investigator of the forage and biomass production project. Robert Nudell (Ag. Research Technician) is responsible for preparing the soil, planting, maintaining, and harvesting experimental plots and cultivar trials, and also coordinating the undergraduate and graduate student's field and greenhouse activities, including sample grinding, data collection and entry, and sample preparation and shipping for forage quality analysis. Training and professional development has included three graduate students. Robynn Anfinrud, an MS student from Fargo, conducted research on nitrogen fertility of four bioenergy crops: forage sorghum, sweet sorghum, kenaf, and reed canary grass. Dulan Samarappuli, a MS student from Sri Lanka, is conducting research on the use of six cover crops to improve soil fertility and biomass yield of four bioenergy/forage crops. Osvaldo Teuber, a Ph.D. Fulbright scholar from Chile, is conducting research on the use of seven forage brassicas as full season and cover crops to increase the availability of forage during the summer and fall grazing season. My team works on close collaboration with Dr. Burton Johnson, Plant Sciences, on the development of double-cropping systems including oilseeds/biomass crops. Also Dr. Larry Cihacek, Soils Department is sampling and analyzing the change in soil organic matter on the alfalfa-grass mixtures study. Drs. Kevin Sedivec, School of Natural Resources, and Dr. Joel Caton, Dep. of Animal and Range Sciences collaborate with the forage quality analysis, cover crops for grazing, and the forage brassicas project. Dr. Guojie Wang, Central Grassland Research Center, Streeter, ND is collaborating with the alfalfa fall dormancy experiment and also participates of the forage brassica project. Steve Zwinger, Carrington Research/Extension Center collaborates with the cool- and warm-season annual forages cultivar trials, alfalfa and alfalfa-mixtures experiments at Carrington, ND. My project works in close cooperation with Dr. Russ Gesch, ARS-USDA, Morris, MN on cropping systems for bioenergy; Dr. Wayne Seames and Dr. Yun Ji, Dept. of Chemical Engineering, Univ. of North Dakota, and Menon &Assoc. regarding analyses of structural carbohydrate composition and study the pretreatment and conversion technologies from the lignocellulosic material generated in my project. TARGET AUDIENCES: Includes forage growers, crop consultants, and extension personnel. Field tours for cover crops for the Northern Seed Trade Assoc. and bioenergy crops for the annual meeting of the Assoc. for the Advancement of Industrial Crops were conducted the summer of 2011. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
The cultivar testing of alfalfa, forage sorghum, cool- and warm-season annual forages and grasses enables forage growers to select cultivars tested in an environment similar to their own farm. The forage program at NDSU is the only program that provides non-biased information on the performance of forages in North Dakota. Also, I frequently receive calls and questions from area growers or extension agents about forage crop cultivar selection and production management. The information generated by the research in this project allows me to give growers advice to improve their forage crops performance and quality. The bioenergy crops research is very new and is generating a lot of attention from growers. Although there is not a lignocellulosic bio-refinery being built in North Dakota to process biomass, it is expected to occur in the near future as we prepare to meet the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS2) goal of 36 billion gallons per year (BGY) of liquid fuels by the year 2022, of which 15 BGY are expected to come from dedicated lignocellulosic energy crops. The information on best management production practices generated by my research project will be crucial to answer questions on what crop to select for bioenergy production, how to manage and harvest, and how to have a sustainable cropping system for energy feedstock production. Cover crops have been adopted by many growers in North Dakota mainly to improve soil health, but also to provide nitrogen for the following crop and increase forage availability in the fall. Even though there are over 150,000 acres of cover crops planted every year in North Dakota there is very limited information on species, cultivars, mixtures, and management of cover crops in North Dakota. My research project is generating the information to answer a few of those questions. Products: Forages web page. 2011. The previously existing web page was modified in content and design. This new web page includes a section on alfalfa, annual forages, cover crops, and biomass/bioenergy crops, and also has a photo gallery and the list of all publications generated by the project.
Publications
- Berti, M.T., Anfinrud, R. Nudell, R., and Ji, Y. 2011. Kenaf: A renewable source for "green" chemicals and fuels in North Dakota. p. 30. In Johnson, B.L. and M.T. Berti, (eds.), 23nd Annual AAIC Meeting-2011 Challenges and Opportunities for Industrial Crops: 11-14 September 2011, Fargo, ND. Available at: www.aaic.org (verified 8 December 2011).
- Kamireddy, S.R., Ji, Y., and Berti, M.T. 2011. Pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis of kenaf biomass as a renewable source for biofuels and green chemicals. p. 31. In Johnson, B.L. and M.T. Berti, (eds.), 23nd Annual AAIC Meeting-2011 Challenges and Opportunities for Industrial Crops: 11-14 September 2011, Fargo, ND. Available at: www.aaic.org (verified 8 December 2011).
- Berti, M.T., and Anfinrud, R. 2011. Nitrogen uptake and biomass and ethanol yield of forage crops as feedstock for biofuel. p. 32. In Johnson, B.L. and M.T. Berti, (eds.), 23nd Annual AAIC Meeting-2011 Challenges and Opportunities for Industrial Crops: 11-14 September 2011, Fargo, ND. Available at: www.aaic.org (verified 8 December 2011).
- Samarappuli, D.P., and M.T. Berti. 2011. Biomass crops productivity affected by cover crops. p. 33. In Johnson, B.L. and M.T. Berti, (eds.), 23nd Annual AAIC Meeting-2011 Challenges and Opportunities for Industrial Crops: 11-14 September 2011, Fargo, ND. Available at: www.aaic.org (verified 8 December 2011).
- Berti, M.T. 2011. Forages potential for bioenergy production in North Dakota. Northern Seed Trade Association Annual meeting. 20-21 July, Fargo, ND.
- Samarappuli, D., and Berti, M.T. 2011. Use of cover crops as supplemental fall forage and as a nutrient source for following biomass crops. Abstract. ASA National Meeting, 16-20 October 2011, San Antonio, TX.
- Berti, M.T., Nudell, R. Anfinrud, R., Samarappuli, D. and Johnson, B. 2011. Forage resources as feedstocks for the biofuel industry in North Dakota. p. 183-190 In 19th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition. 6-10 June, 2011, Berlin, Germany. Available at http://www.conference-biomass.com/Conference-Proceedings.961.0.html
- Berti, M.T., and Zwinger, S. 2011. Cool-season annual forages for hay in North Dakota. Forage Focus. May 2011. Midwest Forage Association, St. Paul, MN.
- Berti, M.T. and Kandel, H. 2011. Prevented planting options. Forage Clippings. 14 July 2011. Available at http://www.midwestforage.org/newsletter/110714clippings.htm Midwest Forage Assoc., St. Paul, MN.
- Anfinrud, R., and Berti, M.T. 2011. Nitrogen uptake and biomass and ethanol yield of forage crops as feedstock for biofuel. Abstract. ASA National Meeting, 16-20 October 2011, San Antonio, TX.
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