Crop Sequence Effects on Forages Production
As part of our Phase III Crop Sequence Experiment, we have measured the forage production of three crops, corn, millet, and sorghum. We show here details of the effects of all 10 residue crops on forage production. Forage harvest samples were taken in late August and early September when crops had approximately 65% to 75% moisture content. The data shown are for dry forage weight. Precipitation during 2003 and 2004 Seasons
Relative Precipitation, 2003 - 2004 Long-term average, 1914 - 2006 250 250 4 4 April May May June June July 200 200 July August August Apr. - Sept. 3 3
150 150
2 2
100 100
precipitation - inches 1 1 50 50 Percent of Long-Term Average Long-Term of Percent
0 0 0 0 yr 2003 yr 2004
Precipitation during both 2003 and 2004 seasons was below average, but the distribution was considerably better in 2004 than in 2003, which had very high rain in May and quite low rain in July and August. Corn Forage Production Ranked by 2-year Average Yields
9000 9000
2003 8000 Corn Forage 2004 8000
7000 7000
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Forage Dry Yield - lb/acre Yield Forage Dry 2000 2000
1000 1000
0 0
Lentil Corn Dry pea Canola Chickpea AVERAGE Sunflower Buckwheat Spring wheat Proso millet Grain sorghum Residue Crop
Dry pea led to the greatest corn forage production followed by chickpea and spring wheat while buckwheat led to the lowest forage production followed by corn and sunflower. Proso millet led to low forage production in 2003, but not in 2004. Corn was more affected by low and poorly distributed precipitation in 2003 compared with the other two forage crops. Millet Forage Production Ranked by 2-year Average Yields
11000 11000
10000 2003 10000 Millet Forage 2004 9000 9000
8000 8000
7000 7000
6000 6000
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3000 3000 Forage Dry Yield - lb/acre Yield Forage Dry 2000 2000 1000 1000
0 0
Lentil Corn Canola Dry pea Chickpea AVERAGESunflower Buckwheat Proso milletSpring wheat Residue Crop Grain sorghum
Canola led to the greatest millet forage production followed by dry pea and lentil while spring wheat led to the lowest forage production followed by proso millet and buckwheat. Sorghum Forage Production Ranked by 2-year Average Yields
11000 11000
10000 2003 10000 Sorghum Forage 2004 9000 9000
8000 8000
7000 7000
6000 6000
5000 5000
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3000 3000 Forage Dry Yield - lb/acre Yield Forage Dry 2000 2000 1000 1000
0 0
Corn Lentil Canola Dry pea Chickpea Sunflower AVERAGEBuckwheat Spring wheat Proso millet Residue Crop Grain sorfhum
Spring wheat led to the greatest sorghum forage production followed by canola and sunflower while proso millet led to the lowest forage production followed by grain sorghum and buckwheat. Summary of Crop Sequential Effects on Forage Production
CORN: Highest production following: Dry pea 2nd and 3rd highest following: Chickpea, Spring wheat
Lowest production following: Buckwheat 2nd and 3rd lowest following: Corn, Sunflower Low production one year following: Proso millet
MILLET: Highest production following: Canola 2nd and 3rd highest following: Dry pea, Lentil
Lowest production following: Spring wheat 2nd and 3rd lowest following: Proso millet, Buckwheat
SORGHUM: Highest production following: Spring wheat 2nd and 3rd highest following: Canola, Sunflower
Lowest production following: Proso millet 2nd and 3rd lowest following: Grain sorghum, Buckwheat Rank of Residue Crops’ Effects on Forage Production Compared with Rank of Springtime Soil Water Amounts
Rank Spring soil Forage Production highest (1) water lowest (10) amount CORN MILLET SORGHUM
1 Dry pea Dry pea Canola Spring wheat 2 Spring wheat Chickpea Dry pea Canola 3 Lentil Spring wheat Lentil Sunflower 4 Proso millet Lentil Chickpea Dry pea 5 Buckwheat Proso millet Sunflower Corn 6 Canola Canola Corn Chickpea 7 Grain sorghum Grain sorghum Grain sorghum Lentil 8 Corn Sunflower Buckwheat Buckwheat 9 Chickpea Corn Proso millet Grain sorghum
10 Sunflower Buckwheat Spring wheat Proso millet
Higher water use leads to lower springtime soil water and vice versa. For corn forage production, crops with higher spring soil water (blue) tend to lead to higher yields, and crops with low spring soil water (red) tend to lead to lower forage yields. Millet and sorghum are less sensitive to soil water than corn, and residue crops’ effects on forage production in these two crops appear to be more linked to weed and disease effects compared with corn.