KADOKA PRESS - Pioneer Review

Agriculture … September 27, 2012 • Kadoka Press • Page 10
Winner Regional
Extension Center
Bob Fanning, Plant Pathology
Field Specialist • 605-842-1267
Matching the
Cropping System to
Water Availability
2012 will certainly go down in
the record books as one of the driest
growing seasons in history, and
has also proven to be very educational.
Granted, that may optimistic.
It became obvious early in the
summer that some crop sequences
like corn following corn, soybeans,
alfalfa or sunflower were much
shorter on soil moisture than others.
No-till fields seemed to withstand
the drought better than
tilled fields. Even within fields,
large differences were seen in how
well the crops handled the
drought, reflecting changes in soil
types and the water holding capacity
of them.
As you look ahead to the 2013
growing season and beyond, if you
planted a crop that failed in 2012,
that may not necessarily be a bad
thing. That may sound easy to say
when you don’t farm, but if you
farm in such a way that a crop
never fails due to drought, you will
not take full advantage of a good
year.
Regardless of your farming
technique, good crop rotations
have many benefits; including
making the best use of the rainfall
you receive. Producers in dry areas
should strive for a mix of high and
low water-use crops. Producers in
better rainfall areas will include
more high-use crops.
A good rotation has diversity in
plant types, planting dates, and
harvest periods. This diversity
spreads workloads and decreases
insect, disease, and weed pressure.
Crop rotations also have varying
levels of water use intensity.
Dwayne Beck, Manager of the
Dakota Lakes Research Farm, has
done some example calculations on
both the diversity and intensity of
a variety of crop rotations, and has
the document available at:
http://www.dakotalakes.com/Publications/DI_Sample_Calculations.p
df. The proper water use intensity
will vary from one area to another.
The key is to make use of the rainfall
you receive. As Dwayne Beck
says, when a crop fails, that’s what
crop insurance is for.
Nitrate Testing Summary
We were able to summarize a
large number of Nitrate test results
from the 2002 and 2006
droughts, due to the cooperation of
the Olson Biochemistry Lab at
SDSU. With the closing of that lab
in the fall of 2011, that resource is
no longer available, but one of the
private labs recently provided a
summary of the Nitrate tests they
have analyzed to date.
SGS Labs, of Brookings, SD,
provided analysis of a number of
corn, corn silage, corn stalks, alfalfa
hay, grass hay mix, lambsquarter
(weed), oat forage, oat
hay, and sorghum/sudan grass
samples from June 28 – September
4, 2012. The samples came largely
from South Dakota, with some
from Minnesota, Iowa and Nebraska.
The majority of the samples
came from southeastern and
southern South Dakota, and the
bordering parts of the other states.
The highest level of Nitrate
their analysis found was 1.14%,
which is well over 2 times the level
that is considered safe to feed,
even when mixed with safer feedstuffs.
The average level was
0.15%, which is at the upper limit
of safe to feed to non-pregnant animals,
and recommended to be limited
to 50% of the ration for
pregnant animals. The median
level, which is the numerical value
separating the higher half of the
samples from the lower half of the
samples, was 0.10%, which is safe
to feed to all animals if adequate
feed and water are available.
Any of the labs will continue to
test forages for Nitrates.
Calendar
•10/16-18/2012: SDSU Extension
Annual Conference, Brookings, SD
To
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Interior . . . . . . . . .911
Long Valley . . . . .911
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