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Crop Rotations for Sweet Sorghum Production in the Southeastern United States

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Crop Rotations for Sweet Sorghum Production in the Southeastern United States CROP ROTATIONS FOR SWEET SORGHUM PRODUCTION IN THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES By JEFFREY ROBERT FEDENKO A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2015 © 2015 Jeffrey Robert Fedenko To my family, for all their support. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The work necessary to complete a dissertation is not a solitary effort, and I would like to thank my lab group for their individual and collective efforts over the years. Without my advisor, Dr. John Erickson, I would undoubtedly still be collecting samples and trying to expand my projects, and thank him for providing focus and direction. Additionally, I would like to thank Rezzy Manning for his assistance with the field and lab work portions of my research since we first established the experiment. I would also like to thank Andrew Schreffler, Tim Havlock, Jim Boyer, and the PSREU staff for their assistance with field work. This project was partially funded by a USDA-Southern SARE Graduate Student Research Grant, for which I am grateful and thank SARE for their support. I wish to thank Dr. Danielle Treadwell, Dr. Ann Wilkie, Dr. Diane Rowland, Dr. Kenneth Quesenberry and Dr. Tesfamariam Mengistu for serving on my committee, for their assistance with lab analyses and design, and in introducing me to applied sustainable agriculture. I thank my parents and family for their support, not only while in graduate school but for as long as I can remember, including the last six years of graduate education. In particular, their continual urgings to finish writing have been invaluable. Finally, I thank Shannon Brown, for many long nights suffered and shared together in our labs, writing, and working on research. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................. 4 LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ 8 LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................ 10 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................... 11 ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................... 12 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 14 2 LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................................... 16 Background ............................................................................................................. 16 Sorghum ................................................................................................................. 20 Crop Rotations and Benefits ................................................................................... 23 Soil Nitrogen and Soil Properties ...................................................................... 24 Plant Nitrogen Uptake and Cycling ................................................................... 25 Nematodes ....................................................................................................... 25 Rotational Crops ..................................................................................................... 27 Camelina .......................................................................................................... 27 Rye ................................................................................................................... 29 Sugar Beet ....................................................................................................... 30 Red Clover ....................................................................................................... 31 Spring Rotational Crops ................................................................................... 32 3 SWEET SORGHUM YIELD AND PARTITIONING AS AFFECTED BY FERTILIZATION AND COOL-SEASON ROTATIONS ............................................ 35 Background ............................................................................................................. 35 Materials and Methods............................................................................................ 39 Experimental Site and Design .......................................................................... 39 Cultural Practices and Harvest Management ................................................... 40 Harvest Procedures .......................................................................................... 42 Statistical Analysis ............................................................................................ 44 Results and Discussion........................................................................................... 45 Sorghum ........................................................................................................... 45 Rotational Crops ............................................................................................... 48 Conclusions ............................................................................................................ 52 5 4 EFFECT OF NITROGEN FERTILITY AND ROTATION CROP ON SOIL NITRATE DYNAMICS OF SWEET SORGHUM CROPPING SYSTEMS ............... 63 Background ............................................................................................................. 63 Materials and Methods............................................................................................ 66 Experimental Design and Field Management ................................................... 66 Monthly Soil Nitrogen Monitoring ...................................................................... 67 Soil Testing ....................................................................................................... 68 Statistical Analysis ............................................................................................ 69 Results and Discussion........................................................................................... 70 Soil Available Nitrogen Dynamics ..................................................................... 70 Sorghum Season Available Nitrogen ................................................................ 75 Soil Nitrates and Total Nitrogen ........................................................................ 77 Conclusions ............................................................................................................ 78 5 NEMATODE POPULATION DYNAMICS OF SWEET SORGHUM AND COOL- SEASON CROP ROTATIONS ON A SANDY SOIL IN FLORIDA .......................... 88 Background ............................................................................................................. 88 Materials and Methods............................................................................................ 91 Sorghum Damage Thresholds .......................................................................... 91 Field nematode sampling procedure and analysis ........................................... 92 Statistical Analysis ............................................................................................ 92 Results and Discussion........................................................................................... 93 Sorghum Detection Thresholds ........................................................................ 93 Field Monitoring ................................................................................................ 94 Conclusions ............................................................................................................ 96 6 ROOT LODGING AFFECTS BIOMASS YIELD AND CARBOHYDRATE COMPOSITION IN SWEET SORGHUM .............................................................. 100 Background ........................................................................................................... 100 Materials and Methods.......................................................................................... 102 Experimental Site and Design ........................................................................ 102 Management Practices ................................................................................... 103 Harvest Procedures ........................................................................................ 104 Carbohydrate Analyses .................................................................................. 105 Statistical Analyses ........................................................................................ 106 Results .................................................................................................................. 106 Weather Data ................................................................................................. 106 Biomass Yield and Partitioning ....................................................................... 106 Brix and Carbohydrates .................................................................................. 108 Discussion ............................................................................................................ 109 7 CROPPING SYSTEMS AND IMPLICATIONS ...................................................... 119 APPENDIX 6 A SUNFLOWER YIELD AND COMPOSITION ........................................................
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