Progress 10/01/19 to 09/30/20
Outputs
Target Audience:The primary audience for this project is the grower stakeholders in northern Idaho. However, this project also serves the greater agricultural industry in northern Idaho and provides knowledge to individuals in similar cropping systems in eastern Washington. This includes commodity commissions, seed and fertilizer dealers, crop consultants, extension educators, landowners, and other researchers. The efforts during this time period included winter schools at several north Idaho locations, a workshop on soil acidification, a regional meeting on cropping systems and a virtual field day that was necessitated due to Covid-19. Changes/Problems:Due to the Covid19 pandemic, many of the spring seeded variety testing trials needed to be canceled in 2020 due to logistical challenges with personnel and travel. However, key locations were still planted and all trials that are part of the program will be seeded as normal in 2021. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The study provided research opportunities for one PhD student seeking a degree in Plant Science. The student is being mentored in my research program and directly involved in the winter pea agronomy research. This individual received valuable field and laboratory experience in agronomy as well as exposure to components of forage analysis and soil science. Likewise, five undergraduate students have worked on various components of this project over the past year. Each has gained new skills in various aspects of cropping systems agronomy research. Professionally, this project has allowed for research to be presented at professional meetings, both by students and the principal investigator. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results of this research have been shared at four winter cereal schools, a workshop centered on soil acidification and a virtual field day. Results were shared with researchers and growers at a regional cropping systems conference. Reports were written to the Idaho Wheat Commission and Idaho Barley Commission who also provide funding for portions of this work. Extension publications are in preparation for greater distribution to stakeholders. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Soil acidity research. A continued focus of my research and extension program will be to develop management strategies and to better understand the impact of soil acidity and aluminum toxicity in northern Idaho. There is significant interest in soil acidity and liming in northern Idaho, both among growers as well as suppliers of agricultural quality lime. A long-term liming project was established at multiple locations in northern Idaho in October of 2016 At each of these locations, higher rates of lime (1 to 3 tons/A) are being tested in long strips. These four locations will be reseeded during the 2020-2021 crop season. Measurements will include agronomic performance, monitoring changes in soil chemistry and evaluating plant performance by UAV flights in collaboration with other colleagues. As the opportunity arises, these sites may be used to assess diseases and monitor microbial populations with respect to soil pH and liming. Trials will be reestablished to screen spring and winter wheat for aluminum tolerance during the 2021 field season. Exploration of fall seeded crops. A focus will remain on exploring winter barley and winter pea for incorporation into the northern Idaho cropping system. Establish and monitor winter barley breeding nurseries for food and malt barley in northern Idaho. With the discontinuation of the winter barley variety testing in northern Idaho due to budget cuts, this will be the only winter barley effort being conducted by the University of Idaho in the northern part of the state. Many growers express interest in incorporating winter barley into rotation, but the region lacks a robust set of varieties to aid in adoption of this crop. Conduct winter pea variety trials at multiple location in northern Idaho. The agronomic work is being put on hold for one year to allow for detailed analysis of the data and establishment of revised goals for the 2021-2022 season. Test small grain and cool-season pulse crops for their agronomic performance in northern Idaho. Variety trials will be established for winter wheat as well as spring versions of wheat, barley, pea, lentil and chickpea. Each trial will have between 15 to 60 entries in replicated studies. Data will be collected on agronomic performance over the summer and fall months. Data will be shared with stakeholders at winter schools and field days as well as extension publications focused on the variety testing effort.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Northern Idaho is dominated by a cereal-based cropping system. However, there are several issues and needs that impact continued success of agricultural production in this part of the state. One of the directions of this research is to address soil acidification which is beginning to impact crop productivity in the region. Four locations that were limed in 2016 continued to be monitored for changes in soil chemistry and crop response. There continues to be a positive benefit of the lime to reduced aluminum toxicity, with a 23 to 32% increase in yield when lime had been applied. Due to high costs of liming, an annualized cost structure is being examined and during the 2020 crop year, the average return over the annualized cost was $31 to $42/A in limed plots. Parallel to this work is an effort to identify aluminum tolerant wheat. A total of 140 winter and spring varieties or breeding lines of wheat were evaluated. Tolerant varieties were identified for all classes of wheat tested, providing growers with a short-term solution to managing soil acidification and aluminum toxicity. Another line of research is to address the need for alternative fall seeded crop options as a continued effort to screen new crop varieties for their agronomic performance. For barley, two trials were conducted to examine elite food or feed quality winter barley breeding lines for adaptability in northern Idaho. Growing conditions were ideal during 2020 with a trial average yield of 149 bu/A. Elite breeding lines were among the highest yielding entries in the trial. The research on winter peas revealed that an earlier seeding date in the fall is optimal for maximizing winter pea production. Likewise, using a seeding depth below 2 inches aids in protecting the growing point of the plant from freezing injury during winter months and a seeding rate of 10 to 12 seeds/sq ft is optimal for a sufficient stand of peas and higher yield. In addition to specific projects on winter barley and winter pea, 27 variety trials were conducted in grower cooperator fields throughout northern Idaho. In these trials a total of 205 varieties or breeding lines of wheat, barley and pea were tested in both spring and fall planted trials. This data is crucial to identifying the crop varieties best adapted to each region in northern Idaho and to accelerate the adoption of these new, superior varieties. Research solutions for reducing the impact of soil acidity and aluminum toxicity: Continue evaluation of high rates of calcium carbonate to remediate soil acidity. Field trial sites were established at four locations in the fall of 2016 and one additional location in 2017 to examine agricultural ground limestone applied at 1, 2 or 3 tons/A along with a no lime control. During the 2019-2020 growing season, the location at Moscow was lost due to a change in grower cooperators. However, at the other four locations, winter wheat, spring wheat, spring barley or spring lentil was seeded.There continues to be a reduction in soluble aluminum content, with a 94 to 96% reduction in soluble aluminum in the top 3 inches and 26 to 33% reduction in the 3 to 6 inch depth in limed plots. Depending on the rate of lime applied, yield was observed to increase by 23 to 32%, with the greatest response to lime observed in the spring barley. In recent years, spring barley has been observed to be more sensitive to aluminum toxicity than other crops grown in the region. Lime applied 4 years ago is still providing a significant improvement in crop performance. To increase adoption, growers and investors need to be convinced of the long-term benefit of lime application. Develop economic models to estimate the long-term benefits of lime application. Data is still be collected and analyzed to provide an economic model on the long-term benefits of liming. The annualized cost of lime was estimated at $12 (1 ton/A), $17 (2 ton/A) and $20 (3 ton/A) based on a time frame of 10, 15 or 20 years, respectively. Given these numbers, the economic return over investment for 2020 crops averaged $31 to $42 per acre, with the lowest returns occurring in spring wheat and the highest in winter wheat and spring barley. Begin evaluating the feasibility of variable rate lime application to fields in northern Idaho. This work has not yet been initiated due to lack of funding and personnel. Examine winter and spring wheat varieties for tolerance to aluminum. During the 2020 growing season, 87 entries of winter wheat and 53 entries of spring wheat were evaluated for aluminum tolerance at a screening site near Moscow, ID. The entries of wheat examined included soft white, hard red, hard white and club with an emphasis on the soft white winter wheat class. The wheat entries tested ranged from very tolerant to very susceptible with over half of the entries tested being unsuitable for production in fields with aluminum toxicity. However, this data does highlight varieties of both spring and winter wheat that had moderate to high tolerance to aluminum toxicity. An extension publication is being planned to educate growers on the availability of aluminum tolerant wheat. Diversify crop rotations by incorporation of additional fall seeded crops. Examine management strategies and agronomic inputs to improve winter pea seedling vigor, increase winter survival and maximize yield. Field trials were established at Genesee, ID and St. John, WA to test seeding rate (6, 8, 10 or 12 seeds/sq ft), seeding date (late Sept, mid Oct, late Oct) and starter fertilizer (20 lb sulfur and 20 lb phosphorus versus no starter). The results form this season demonstrated that a seeding rate of 10 or 12 seeds/sq ft resulted in significantly higher winter pea yields. Seed protein also increased with higher seeding rates, possibly due to greater root biomass. Earlier seeding dates were observed to result in improved vigor in the spring and greater crop yield, but a late (dormant) seeding could still result in an adequate yield. Our study indicated that starter fertilizer had no impact on plant stand, crop yield or protein content. The lack of response does not justify this practice, although it might be useful to expand this research into examining the role of micronutrients. Examine food and malt quality winter barley in northern Idaho. Winter survival and lower profitability compared to winter wheat limit winter barley production in northern Idaho. Two winter barley trials were conducted in Genesee, ID in which 30 entries of food barley and 30 entries of malt barley were examined. All entries tested survived the winter weather equally well and mild spring temperatures and timely rain resulted in above normal yields. The average yield for the food and malt trials were 134 bu/A and 163 bu/A, respectively. Many elite breeding lines were among the highest yielding entries in this trial. This work is contributing to the development and release of winter barley lines well suited for northern Idaho. Test small grain and cool-season pulse crops for their agronomic performance in northern Idaho. New crop varieties offer novel disease resistance, improved agronomic traits and superior yield performance. For the 2019-2020 growing season, variety trials of winter wheat, winter barley, winter pea, spring wheat and spring barley were established at multiple locations in northern Idaho. A total of 205 entries of existing varieties, new varieties and elite breeding material were tested. Yields were observed to be above normal at nearly all locations and experimental variance was low, resulting in robust data sets. This information was shared with plant breeders, growers, consultants, seed companies and commodity commissions. Data from these trials is crucial in identifying the proper fit for new varieties and aiding plant breeders in selecting the appropriate germplasm for northern Idaho. Due to challenges created by the pandemic, one winter barley site and all spring legume sites were canceled.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
McFarland, C., Shiwakoti, S., Carpenter-Boggs, L. Schroeder, K., Brown, T., and Huggins, D. R. 2020. Evaluating buffer methods for determining lime requirement on acidified agricultural soils of the Palouse. Soil Science Society of America Journal 1-13. doi:org/10.1002/saj2.20111.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Chen, J., Wheeler, J., Klassen, N., Zhao, W., OBrien, K., Jackson, C., Marshall, J. M., Schroeder, K., and Chen, X. M. 2020. Registration of UI Bronze Jade hard white winter wheat. Journal of Plant Registrations 1-8. doi:10.1002/plr2.20029.
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Progress 07/01/19 to 09/30/19
Outputs
Target Audience:Target audience includes stakeholders involved in small grain cereal and grain legume production in the dryland, rainfed areas of the inland Pacific Northwest. This includes farmers, crop commodity groups, crop consultants, and the agriculture industry in northern Idaho. Other audience members include researchers from both the public and private sectors, and those individuals or groups interested in crop production in northern Idaho. Changes/Problems:No changes have occurred or are planned for the upcoming reporting period. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The study provided research opportunities for one master's and one PhD student seeking degrees in Plant Science. The master's student was being mentored in my research program and directly involved in the work to evaluate management strategies for aluminum toxicity. The PhD student is working on the winter pea agronomy project as part of his education. These individuals received valuable field, greenhouse and laboratory experience in agronomy as well as exposure to components of plant pathology and soil science. Likewise, six undergraduate students have worked on various components of this project over the past year. Each has gained new skills in various aspects of cropping systems agronomy research. Professionally, this project has allowed for research to be presented at professional meetings, both by students and the principal investigator. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?During the short reporting period of this project, there were no opportunities to share this information in field days, meetings or workshops. However, an extension publication was completed to share the results of the 2018 small grains and pulse crop variety testing and 2019 data was posted on the north Idaho variety testing website. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Solutions for reducing the impact of soil acidity and aluminum toxicity. A continued focus of my research and extension program will be to develop management strategies and to better understand the impact of soil acidity and aluminum toxicity in northern Idaho. There is significant interest in soil acidity and liming in northern Idaho, both among growers as well as suppliers of agricultural quality lime. A long-term liming project was established at multiple locations in northern Idaho in October of 2016 with additional sites added in the fall of 2017. At each of these locations, higher rates of lime (1 to 3 tons/A) are being tested in long strips. One of these locations was seeded to winter wheat in the fall of 2019. The remaining locations will be seeded to a spring cereal or spring legume in the spring of 2020. This study will be monitored during 2020, including collecting information on agronomic performance, monitoring changes in soil chemistry and evaluating plant performance by UAV flights in collaboration with other colleagues. As the opportunity arises, these sites may be used to assess diseases and monitor microbial populations with respect to soil pH and liming. Fall plots were already established to spring for aluminum tolerant wheat varieties. Spring varieties entered into the north Idaho variety testing program as well as the Washington State University variety testing program will be seeded in the spring into a field to test for aluminum tolerance. Plant evaluations for both trials will commence in May and June of 2020. Data is intended to be shared in an extension publication expected in the fall of 2020. Identify alternative crops and crop rotations. Alternative crop work in northern Idaho is currently focused around improving the agronomics for winter pea and identifying improved winter survival in winter barley to increase the adoption and success of these crops. Trials to continue exploring the agronomics of winter pea were established in the fall of 2019 for the 2019-2020 growing season. In these trials, seeding date, seeding rate and fertility are being examined. These plots will be monitored during 2020 and harvested in the fall of 2020 to obtain yield data. Likewise, a barley nursery was seeded in October of 2019 to examine 30 winter malt and 30 winter food barley lines. Seeding vigor measurements will be collected in early spring of 2020 and after harvest a data summary will be prepared and shared with the USDA-ARS barley breeder in Aberdeen, ID. A field day may be planned for to highlight both of these studies in the summer of 2020. Variety testing in northern Idaho. Winter wheat, pea and barley trials were established in the fall of 2019 for the upcoming growing season. For the spring, wheat, barley, pea, lentil and chickpea trials will be established at multiple locations across northern Idaho. However, due to reduced funding for technical staff by the University of Idaho, five locations which represent eight trials will be eliminated for the 2020 growing season. Agronomic measurement will be made over the summer and following harvest data will be posted to the north Idaho variety testing website and summarized for inclusion in the 2020 Small Grains and Grain Legume research bulletin. Three field tours are being planned to showcase these trials and discuss new varieties with growers and the seed industry.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Northern Idaho is dominated by a cereal-based cropping system that is dependent on the continued success of soft white winter wheat production. However, cost effective alternative crops in the rotation such as spring wheat, barley, cool season legumes and canola are vital for the long-term sustainability of the cropping system. To maintain or improve upon this cropping system, there are several important areas that need to be addressed, including management of soil acidification, increased diversification of the cropping system by incorporation of new crops, and continued testing of new public and private variety releases for their agronomic performance in the region. The idea of managing soil acidity through lime application is a new concept in northern Idaho and there are no local recommendations or guidelines on how best to accomplish lime application. Research being conducted by my program is providing the foundation to manage soil acidification by examining the impact of commercial liming practices in the field and developing economic models to help explain the feasibility of this management strategy. While liming is the best long-term solution, screening locally adapted varieties of wheat for tolerance to aluminum toxicity, that results from low soil pH, is providing some guidance on short-term strategies to mitigate the impact of soil acidity. Aside from managing soil acidity, a significant focus of the cropping systems program in northern Idaho is focused on variety testing and crop diversity. Varieties and advanced breeding lines of winter and/or spring variants of wheat, barley, pea, lentil and chickpea are tested annually at multiple locations. This information is vital to breeders and the cereal and pulse crop industries in northern Idaho as this testing characterizes the agronomic performance of each entry. In addition to the variety testing, there is a further effort to explore alternative crops. Recently, there have been more frequent issues with prolonged, wet spring weather that delays and, in some cases, prevents spring planting. There also is a growing desire to have crops growing in the field over the winter months to improve soil microbial health and limit erosion. A continuing project is to evaluate the agronomics associated with autumn sown peas and cover crops to aid in diversifying the cropping system in northern Idaho. This project is still early in development, but guidelines for improved productivity of winter pea is within the next few years. Solutions for reducing the impact of soil acidity and aluminum toxicity: Evaluate high rates of commercial lime as well as economic feasibility of these treatments.A study was initiated in the fall of 2016 at five locations in northern Idaho to assess liming rates of up to 3 ton/A which are more in line with lime requirement recommendations.For this reporting period, the 2018-2019 plots were harvested and one winter wheat location was seeded in October 2019. For the 2019 harvest, four of the locations were winter wheat and the fifth was spring pea. For three of the winter wheat trials, there was an average increase in yield of 17 to 27% for the 1 to 3 ton/A rates of lime. The yield at the fourth location was extremely variable to variable emergence and so was discarded. The spring pea yield increased incrementally with increasing lime rate and was 35% higher than the no lime control. By annualizing the cost of lime over 10, 15 or 20 years for the 1, 2 and 3 ton/A rates, the economic return on 11 site-years of data is a positive $19, $22, and $32/A, respectively. Analysis of soil samples collected in 2019 are still underway and will be reported next year. Economic analysis of the data suggests that amortizing the cost of lime over multiple years may be a potential solution to address the high relative cost of liming. This trial will be continued for to generate multiyear yield response data to conduct a more robust economic analysis on the long-term benefit of soil liming in northern Idaho. Examine winter and spring wheat varieties for tolerance to aluminum. A trial was established at the University of Idaho Parker Plant Science Farm in a field with a pH of approximately 4.2 with high soluble aluminum to test 188 varieties or breeding lines of winter wheat. A similar trial will be established in the spring of 2020 to test spring wheat varieties and breeding lines. All ratings and evaluations will be conducted in 2020. Based on previous data, there are a substantial number of varieties commonly grown in the inland Pacific Northwest that are tolerant to aluminum. This ongoing effort is very important to identify the most tolerant wheat varieties for use in areas with known soil acidification issues and aluminum toxicity. Identify alternative crops and crop rotations: Evaluate management strategies to improve winter pea vigor and yield. Two trials were seeded in the fall of 2018 at Genesee, ID and St. John, WA to examine seeding date, seeding rate, and the addition of starter fertilizer (20 lb P and 20 lb S) as planting using two winter pea varieties (Blaze and Windham). Unlike the 2018 results which showed declining yield with delayed planting, the yield in 2019 did not differ substantially between seeding dates. However, the fall of 2018 was very dry and falls rains did not start until late October near the end of the typical planting window. Seeding rate (6, 8, 10 or 12 seeds/ft2) had no significant difference on yield at Genesee. However, at St. John, the 10 and 12 seeds/ft2 usually resulted in statistically higher yields. The longer growing season at Genesee may have allowed for greater plant development, reducing the influence of seeding rate, but the higher seeding rates would be preferred from the standpoint of competition with weeds. These trials were reseeded in September and October of 2019. Examine food and malt quality winter barley with superior winter survival and yield potential. Trials were seeded in the fall of 2018 near Genesee, ID to test 30 winter malt barley and 30 winter food barley lines. This work is being done in conjunction with Dr. Gongshe Hu, a breeder with the USDA-ARS in Aberdeen, ID. Yields were below normal for 2019, likely as a result of a late winter that extended well into March. The elite food barley lines ranged in yield from 32 to 81 bu/A with a trial average of 56 bu/A. The elite malt barley ranged in yield from 44 to 75 bu/A with a trial average of 65 bu/A. The spring vigor for these trials ranged from 3.0 to 8.0 for the food barley lines and 3.7 to 7.3 for the malt barley lines, using a 1 to 9 scale where 9 is excellent vigor. Trials were reestablished in the fall of 2019 for the 2019-2020 growing season. Winter barley production has been low in Idaho, particularly northern Idaho in recent decades. Part of the reason for this is a lack of winter hardiness which makes it difficult for this crop to compete with winter wheat. However, reintroduction of winter barley into the region would be beneficial in expanding the crop diversity. Variety testing in northern Idaho: Test small grain and cool-season pulse crops for their agronomic performance. Winter and spring varieties or breeding lines of wheat, barley, pea, lentil and chickpea were tested during the 2018-2019 growing season. A total of 43 field trials were conducted including a total of 3,880 individual plots. Within these plots, a total of 245 different varieties or breeding lines were tested. Data from these trials is shared at field days, winter Cereal Schools, an annual extension publication and published on the north Idaho variety testing website. The information generated is extremely important to Idaho growers and the seed industry to aid in identifying the most suitable varieties to grow in different locals in northern Idaho. Breeders also use this information to make decisions concerning release of varieties and identifying where they are most suitable.
Publications
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Schroeder, K., White, D., and McGinnis, A. 2019. 2018 Small Grain and Grain Legume Report, Northern Idaho Small Grain and Grain Legume Research and Extension Program. Idaho Agricultural Experiment Station, Research Bulletin 201. 66 pp.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Finkelnburg, D., and Schroeder, K. 2019. Acidifying topsoils and associated risks to dryland crop production. Sidebar in: Grazed Cover Cropping, Drew Leitch (p. 7). PNW721.
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