Progress 07/01/17 to 06/30/20
Outputs
Target Audience:Three hundred thirty-sevenfarmers,farmer/ranchers, and other stakeholders, primarilyin central and western Montana, attended various forums in which I discussed aspects of this project during the current reporting period. An additional 100+ crop scientists and other professional peers were educated about project results during oral paper presentations at the American Society of Agronomy annual meeting in San Antonio, TX, during 10-13 November, 2019. This venues occurred prior to the university lockdown that occurred in March, 2020, which remained in place for the remainder of the reporting period. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Two undergraduate students worked on different experiments included in this project. The students learned how to layout experiments in the field, operated small-plot planting equipment, collected field data, participated in harvest, processed harvested forage and grain/seed, and entered and coded data for statistical analyses. Results of one study included in this project (Study 1 in the Major Goals section of this final report) were discussed at the 2019 American Society of Agronomy Annual meeting. The knowledge of the audience (graduate students, university faculty, USDA-ARS scientists, extension educators, and others) was increased regarding dryland wheat farming and diversification strategies. Results the three studies described in the Major Goals section of this final report were discussed with farmer stakeholders at a meeting in Lewistown, MT, in December, 2019. Continuing education credits were earned by audience members attending both meeting. ? How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Local media platforms were used to discuss studies included in this project; summaries of these discussions appeared in print in local and regional newspapers distributed broadly. These summaries enhanced public knowledge of the project and the importance of agricultural research more generally. Results of the project also were presented at the Central Montana Research Roundup in December, 2019, a well-attended (>50 people) annual event held in Lewistown, MT. Farmers and Ranchers made up the bulk of attendees, but there were non-agricultural attendees curious about agricultural research and wanting to learn more. These non-agriculturalists left the meeting better informed about the importance of agricultural research in general, and this project in particular. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
(1) Corn and millet species were identified that can be grown for grain under dryland management; (2) several warm-season crop species along with cool- and warm-season crop mixtures were identified which can be grown successfully as cover or dual-use cover-forage crops in wheat-based cropping systems in central Montana; and (3) a long-term study including 2-, 3-, and 4-year rotations was established to demonstrate advantages compared to wheat-fallow and continuous monoculture in central Montana.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Carr, P.M., and Q. Xue. Symposium Papers: Editorial. Agronomy Journal 112(5):3223-3226. doi: 10.1002/agj2.20262
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Carr, P.M., D.L. Boss, C. Chen, J.M. Dafoe, J.O. Eberly, S. Fordyce !, R.M. Hydner, H.K. Fryer, J.A. Lachowiec, P.F. Lamb, K.A. McVay, Q.A. Khan, P.R. Miller, Z.J. Miller, and J.A. Torrion. Warm-season forage options in northern dryland regions. Agronomy Journal 112(5):3239-3253. doi: 10.1002/agj2.20261
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Carr, P.M., M. Cavigelli, H. Darby, K. Delate, J.O. Eberly, H.K. Fryer, G.G. Gramig, J.R. Heckman, E. Mallory, J.R. Reeve, E.M. Silva, D.H. Suchoff, and A.L. Woodley. Green and animal manure use in organic field crop systems. Agronomy Journal 112(2):648-674. https://doi.org/10.1002/agj2.20082.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Carr, P.M., S. Fordyce, S. Bishop, H. Fryer, and S. Dahlhausen. Impact of warm-season annual crops on subsequent wheat in central Montana dryland cropping systems. Proceedings of the American Society of Agronomy Annual Meeting, 10-13 November, San Antonio, TX. 401-11.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Jones, C.A., R.E. Engel, P.M. Carr, P.R. Miller, S.A. Ewing, S. Fordyce!, J. Holzer, S. Brown, and S.. Powell. Soil acidification: An emerging threat to no-till. Proceedings of the American Society of Agronomy Annual Meeting, San Antonio, TX. 293-3.
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Progress 10/01/18 to 09/30/19
Outputs
Target Audience:Seven hundred and thirty-fivefarmers,farmer/ranchers, and other stakeholders, primarilyin central and western Montana, attended various forums in which I discussed aspects of this project during the current reporting period. An additional 150+ crop scientists and other professional peers were educated about project results during oral paper presentations at the American Society of Agronomy annual meeting in Baltimore, MD, during 4-7 November, 2018, and during an invited seminar to faculty and graduate students at Colorado State University in Ft. Collins on 7 February, 2019. 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?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Most dryland central Montana farmers grow wheat and much of that is grown after fallow. Economic efficiency questions have been asked about the use of fallow in crop production systems for decades. Now, similar questions are being asked about growing wheat, where some economists predict that economic returns as low as -$72/ha (-$28/ac) will result when wheat is grown. In contrast, crops like pea and lentil are projected at returning from $77 to 320/ha ($31 to $130/ac). Wheat dominates dryland farming in central Montana and across the northern Great Plains. The low farm-gate price paid for wheat creates economic challenges, in addition to biological and environmental problems. The objective of this project is to identify crops that are adapted to growing conditions and can be used to diversify dryland, wheat-based cropping system in the region. In doing so, the project will provide Montana farmers with new crop choices which can lead to new markets for the crops which they grow, while simultaneously reducing the negative biological and environmental consequences of traditional, wheat-based cropping systems which still dominate the region. 1. Identify full- and warm-season crop species that can be grown for grain. Hemp, proso millet, and safflower cultivar adaptation experiments (i.e., variety trials) were conducted under dryland no-till management in central Montana during the reporting period, as they were in 2017-18. Two hemp cultivars (CRS-1 and Katani) and Vida hard red spring wheat were planted on 26 April, 10 May, and 24 May during 2019 in a field where foxtail millet was grown for seed in 2018. Seed yield was unaffected by planting date (P = 0.25) but was by crop/cultivar with more grain/seed produced by Vida spring wheat (1631 kg/ha) than by either hemp cultivar (729 kg/ha by CRS-1 and 661 kg/ha by Katani). Horizon was the highest yielding cultivar (1024 kg/ha) in the proso millet trial during 2019. Other cultivars producing comparable grain yields included Sunrise (899 kg/ha) and Huntsman (868 kg/ha), while Earlybird produced lowest grain yield (620 kg/ha). Hybrid 446 was the highest yielding cultivar in the safflower adaptation experiment during 2019, with an average seed yield of 903 kg/ha. Other cultivars producing comparable seed yields to those produced by hybrid 422 included Cardinal (811 kg/ha] and hybrid 200 (762 kg/ha). Cool temperatures dominated during 2019, and this is reflected in the relatively low yields in variety trials. 2. Identify warm-season species and both cool- and warm-season crop mixtures that can be grown profitably with wheat in central Montana. Wheat was grown following 22 warm-season and 4 cool-season crop treatments. A fallow check also was included. Differences in wheat grain yield generally were not detected when wheat was preceded by a warm-season crop compared to summer fallow (P > 0.05). Exceptions were limited to one of four field experiments where wheat grain yield was greater following fallow (2916 kg/ha) than following Hungarian and proso millet (2378 and 2083 kg/ha). Wheat grain yield across crop treatment whole plots and management (cover, forage, or grain/seed) subplots averaged 1417 and 2088 kg/ha in the two field experiments during 2017-18, and 2525 kg/ha in the field experiment during 2018-19. Results of a four-year field study in central Montana demonstrated that warm-season crops generally can be grown prior to wheat with little if any impact on wheat yield or grain protein concentration in central Montana. 3. Establish crop rotations along with wheat-fallow and continuous wheat in long-term studies. Rotation And Tillage System (RATS) studies Three crop sequences (winter wheat-barley-pea, winter wheat-barley-lentil, spring wheat-pea-millet-safflower) along with winter wheat-fallow and a continuous wheat monoculture (winter wheat-spring wheat) were established in 24 by 80 ft (7 by 24 m) plots under dryland no-till management in one experiment, and under dryland conventional-till management in a separate experiment, during 2017. In the no-till environment, winter wheat yields were greater following fallow (2209 kg/ha) in the wheat-fallow-wheat sequence than following spring wheat (1294 kg/ha) in the wheat-spring wheat-wheat sequence (P < 0.05) during 2019. Differences were not detected between winter wheat yields in the wheat-spring wheat-wheat sequence and the barley-lentil-wheat sequence (2036 kg/ha) or the barley-pea-wheat sequence (1757 kg/ha). Soil moisture differences were not detected across different crop sequences in 2019 (P = 0.63), nor were there differences in crop plant density (P = 0.21). Likewise, soil moisture did not differ across crop sequences in the conventional-till experiment (P = 0.61) nor did crop plant density (P = 0.06), even though wheat grain yield was greater in the wheat-fallow-wheat sequence (2585 kg/ha) than barley-lentil-wheat (1913 kg/ha), barley-pea-wheat (1701 kg/ha), and wheat-spring wheat-wheat (1354 kg/ha) sequences. These data should be considered preliminary since this long-term study will be continued through at least 2025. Crop Matrix Study Barley, canola, lentil, pea, and spring wheat were established in 4.6 by 22.9 m (15 by 75 ft) strips in 2018; those same five crops were planted during 2019 in strips of identical dimensions but in a direction perpendicular to the planting direction during 2018, resulting in all possible combinations for a total of 25 (5 x 5) possible, two-year crop sequences per block, with crop strips re-randomized in both directions in four separate blocks. Field experiments were established near Conrad in north central Montana, and at Moccasin approximately 225 km to the southeast in the central part of the state. Previous crop (2018) failed to affect grain yield of subsequent crop (2019) at either location, with three exceptions. Canola following pea produced more seed (700 kg/ha) than following barley (476 kg/ha) or spring wheat (540 kg/ha), and spring wheat produced more grain following canola (1411 kg/ha), lentil (1478 kg/ha), and pea (1411 kg/ha) than following barley (1008 kg/ha) or spring wheat (1075 kg/ha). This study will be continued through 2021, and perhaps even longer.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Fordyce, S., J. Torrion, J. Lachowiec, P. Miller, B. Biddulph, and P. Carr. 2018. Field evidence for frost-induced cross-stress tolerance in canola. Online. Agricultural and Environmental Letters doi:10.2134/ael2018.05.0020.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Meccage-Glunk, E., P.M. Carr, M. Bourgault, K. McVay, and D. Boss. 2019. Annual forages. Crops and Soils 52:18-22. doi:10.2134/cs2019.52.0101
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Carr, P.M., D.L. Boss, M. Bourgault, J.O. Eberly. K.A. McVay, and P.R. Miller. 2018. The potential of annual forages to achieve dryland cropping systems sustainability. Proceedings of the American Society of Agronomy Annual Meeting, 4-7 November, Baltimore, MD. 131-10.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Burkhart, A., S. Briar, P.M. Carr, J.M. Martin, and J. Sherman. 2018. Using soil nematode community structure to make soil health associations in semi-arid dryland barley systems. Proceedings of the American Society of Agronomy Annual Meeting, 4-7 November, Baltimore, MD. 224-10. 2nd place graduate student competition
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Progress 10/01/17 to 09/30/18
Outputs
Target Audience:Six-hundred and sixtyfarmers,farmer/ranchers, and other stakeholders, primarilycentral and western Montana, who attended various forums in which I discussed aspects of this project. An additional 60 plus crop scientists and other professional peers were reached during oral paper presentations at professional meetings (e.g., the American Society of Agronomy annual meeting in Tampa, FL, during 22-25 October, 2017. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?An undergraduate student intern worked on different experiments included in this project. The student learned how to layout experiments in the field, establish the experiments, operated small-plot planting equipment, collected field data, participated in harvest including the operation of self-propelled, small-plot combines, processed harvested forage and grain/seed, and entered and coded data for statistical analyses. Members of the WSARE Administrative Council made a site visit to experiments included in this project where they learned about challenges faced by dryland farmers in Montana and attempts to diversify wheat-based cropping systems in the central part of the state. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Wheat dominates dryland farming in central Montana and across the northern Great Plains, creating economic challenges (e.g., economic returns projected to be -$28/ac when growing winter wheat during 2017), in addition to biological (e.g., buildup of pests) and environmental (e.g., idling or fallowing land prior to growing wheat) problems because of the heavy reliance on a single crop. The objective of this project is to identify crops that are adapted to growing conditions and can be used to diversify wheat-based cropping systems in the region. Emphasis will be placed on full-season (e.g., safflower) and warm-season (e.g., sunflower) species since research has been limited on their potential in the northern Great Plains. Identifying full- and warm-season crops adapted to growing conditions in the region will give Montana farmers new crop choices and access to new markets while simultaneously reducing the negative biological and environmental consequences of traditional, wheat-based cropping systems which still dominate the region. 1. Identify full- and warm-season crop species that can be grown for grain. Hemp, proso millet, and safflower cultivar adaptation experiments (i.e., variety trials) were conducted under dryland no-till management in central Montana during 2018. Grandi (336 lb/ac [376 kg/ha]) and CRS-1 (301 lb/ac [337 kg/ha]) were the highest yielding among the five hemp cultivars that were compared (P < 0.05). Katani (289 lb/ac [324 kg/ha]), CFX-1 (286 lb/ac [320 kg/ha]), and Picolo (271 lb/ac [304 kg/ha]) were the other hemp cultivars in the experiment. A duplicate hemp experiment was conducted in southwestern Montana where CRS-1 (487 lb/ac [545 kg/ha]) and CFX-2 (484 lb/ac [542 kg/ha]) were the highest yielding cultivars. There was considerable variation for grain yield (coefficient of variation equaled 29%) in the proso millet experiment, so seed yield means were not separated by cultivar. Overall seed yield averaged 393 lb/ac across the 25 entries. Baldy was the highest yielding cultivar in the safflower adaptation experiment in central Montana, with an average seed yield of 844 lb/ac (945 kg/ha). Other cultivars producing comparable seed yields to those produced by Baldy included three hybrids (446 [824 lb/ac {923 kg/ha}], 1601 [813 lb/ac {911 kg/ha}], and 200 [726 lb/ac {813 kg/ha}]), along with Cardinal (771 lb/ac [871 kg/ha]) and Rubis Red (748 lb/ac [837 kg/ha]). 2. Identify warm-season species and both cool- and warm-season crop mixtures that can be grown profitably with wheat in central Montana. Twenty-two warm-season crop treatments were evaluated as cover, forage, and grain or seed crops under dryland no-till management in central Montana during 2018. When grown as cover crops, sunflower (3651 lb/ac [4089 kg/ha]) and corn (3619 lb/ac [4053 kg/ha]) produced more above-ground dry matter (DM) than all other entries, including spring wheat (2066 lb/ac [2314 kg/ha]) and spring pea (1457 lb/ac [1632 kg/ha]) checks. Corn produced greater amounts of DM when harvested later for forage (5177 lb/ac [5797 kg/ha] compared with all other entries, followed by sunflower (4296 lb/ac [4811 kg/ha]). When harvested for grain, corn produced higher yields (1339 lb/ac [1499 kg/ha]) than all other entries, except spring wheat (1147 lb/ac [1284 kg/ha]). These same treatments 22 warm-season treatments along with fallow, spring wheat, and spring pea checks were established in two field experiments during 2017 so that spring wheat could be planted and grain yield determined during 2018. No difference was detected in wheat grain yield across previous crop treatment (P = 0.92 and 0.47) or harvest timing (P = 0.22 and 0.80) in either experiment. Preliminary analyses of data from these three experiments suggest that there are warm-season crops capable of producing comparable or greater amounts of above-ground DM compared to spring pea and spring wheat, and that corn can produce comparable or greater amounts of grain than spring wheat and pea in central Montana. There is no apparent depression in yield when spring wheat follows these warm-season crops compared with spring wheat, pea, or fallow under dryland management in central Montana. 3. Establish crop rotations along with wheat-fallow and continuous wheat in long-term studies Rotation And Tillage System (RATS) studies Three crop sequences (winter wheat-barley-pea, winter wheat-barley-lentil, spring wheat-pea-millet-safflower) along with wheat-fallow and a continuous wheat monoculture (winter wheat-spring wheat) were established in 24 by 80 ft (7 by 24 m) plots in one experiment under dryland no-till management and the other under dryland conventional-till management during 2017. This allowed comparisons of winter wheat following fallow, spring wheat, pea, and lentil along with pea following barley and spring wheat 2018. Problems in establishing safflower during 2017 resulted in fallow during 2017 in those plots, so spring wheat was compared following winter wheat and fallow (safflower). Winter wheat following pea produced less grain in both no-till (936 lb/ac [1048 kg/ha]) and conventional-till (1250 lb/ac [1400 kg/ha] environments than following lentil (1621 lb/ac [1816 kg/ha] and 1940 lb/ac [2172 kg/ha]) and fallow (1510 lb/ac [1691 kg/ha] and 1874 lb/ac [2098 kg/ha]), and comparable amounts to that following spring wheat ([1570 kg/ha] and 1864 kg/ha) at P < 0.06. Spring wheat yield following fallow (safflower) was higher under both no-till (1745 lb/ac [1954 kg/ha]) and conventional-till (1826 lb/ac [2045 kg/ha]) than following winter wheat (1198 lb/ac [1341 kg/ha] and 1421 lb/ac [1591 kg/ha]), as expected. As anticipated, there were no differences when pea followed barley compared with spring wheat in both no-till and conventional-till environments. Pea yield averaged 1597 lb/ac (1788 kg/ha) across previous crops under no-till and 1682 lb/ac (1830 kg/ha) under conventional-till. Canola Matrix Study Barley, canola, lentil, pea, and spring wheat were established in 15 by 75 ft (4.6 by 22.9 m) plots during 2018 in preparation of crop sequence comparisons in 2019 where those same five crops will be planted in all possible 2-yr sequences for a total of 25 crop sequences (5 x 5). Highest grain yields were produced by barley (2371 lb/ac [2655 kg/ha]) during 2018, following by spring wheat, pea, lentil, and canola. Impacts Preliminary results from ongoing and completed field experiments were presented to 728 farmers and other stakeholders during 15 presentations given throughout Montana. Topics discussed included annual forage production, canola production, mustard production, conservation-till and no-till management practices and strategies in the context of diverse crop rotations, enterprise budgets for alternative crops, crop cultivar selection in acidic soils, using warm-season crops to diversify wheat-based cropping systems, and high-lights of cropping systems research at the Central Ag. Res. Center. Survey responses indicated that >90% of attendees indicated new knowledge was gained about best management practices for diversifying wheat-based cropping systems. Benefits of incorporating annual species into forage production strategies were discussed with 33 students enrolled in Forages (AGSC 342) on the MSU campus in Bozeman, and on diversified organic farming systems to 17 students in Sustainable Cropping Systems (AGSC 528/LRES 529). Presentations on using warm-season annual crops to diversify dryland cropping systems were given at the American Society of Agronomy's annual meeting in Tampa, FL. Ten media interviews on alternative crops and their potential in Montana were conducted, with most of these appearing in regional print media. One appearance was made on Montana Ag Live to discuss and answer questions on warm-season crops and their potential Montana. This is the second most watched, locally (i.e., Montana) produced television program on public television in Montana.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Fordyce, S., J. Torrion, J. Lachowiec, P. Miller, B. Biddulph, and P. Carr. 2018. Field evidence for frost-induced cross-stress tolerance in canola. Online. Agricultural and Environmental Letters doi:10.2134/ael2018.05.0020
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
McVay, K.A., D.N. Boss, P.F. Lamb, Q.A. Khan, C. Chen, P.M. Carr, J.A Torrion, Z. Miller, S. Fordyce, J.M. Dafoe, and R. Hybner. 2017. Evaluation of multiple species for use as cover crops in dryland production in Montana. Proceedings of the American Society of Agronomy Annual Meeting, 22-25 October, Tampa, FL. 147-1540.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Carr, P.M., S. Fordyce, and S. Dahlhausen. 2017. Warm season crop choices in the northern Great Plains. Proceedings of the American Society of Agronomy Annual Meeting, 22-25 October, Tampa, FL. 97-4.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Carr, P.M. (editor and contributor). 2017. Annual report. Central Agrlc. Res. Ctr., Moccasin. 60 p.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Carr, P.M. (editor and contributor). 2017. Crop management field day report. Central Agric. Res. Ctr., Moccasin. 52 p.
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Progress 07/01/17 to 09/30/17
Outputs
Target Audience:
Nothing Reported
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?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Establish the studies described in the project proposal.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Project has only been active for a few months. Too early in the project's life for anything to report.
Publications
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