Short Term Tillage Comparisons Lewiston, NC Rocky Mount, NC Cotton - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Short Term Tillage Comparisons

Lewiston, NC Rocky Mount, NC

Cotton lint yield in conventional* and strip tillage cotton

Lint yield Economic return Tillage 2012 2013 2012 2013 2012 + 2013

_____________lbs/acre ______________ ______________$/acre ________________

Conventional 1049 753 313 83 396 Strip 1045 496* 312

• 128 *

184 *

Conventional was bedded.

Materials and Methods

• Subplots

– Six tillage systems with and without a wheat cover

Tillage System Fall Tillage Spring Tillage 1

• Bed

2 Strip

• 3

Bed

• 4
• Strip (before planting)

5

• Strip (at planting)

6 Bed Strip Everything was ripped

2014 Growth Rate: 35 DAP*

Lewiston Rocky Mount Tillage May 5 May 28 May 9 May 29

• --------- Growth (gram per day) ----------

Conventional (spring bed) 0.506 0.885 bc 0.281 bc 0.321 Fall strip (flat) 0.441 0.717 c 0.358 abc 0.437 Fall bed 0.598 0.983 bc 0.244 c 0.477 Spring strip at-plant (flat) 0.536 0.838 c 0.253 c 0.380 Spring strip pre-plant (flat) 0.604 1.424 a 0.429 a 0.381 Fall bed + Spring strip 0.568 1.150 ab 0.390 ab 0.513 LSD

• 0.281

0.120

• *Means followed by the same letter within each column are not significantly

different according to Fisher’s Protected LSD at p ≤ 0.05

2015 Growth Rate: 35 DAP*

Lewiston Rocky Mount Tillage May 6 May 21 May 8 May 22

• --------- Growth (gram per day) ----------

Conventional (spring bed) 0.497 bc 0.451 c 0.384 0.625 Fall strip 0.392 c 0.181 d 0.304 0.494 Fall bed 0.577 ab 0.641 b 0.352 0.620 Spring strip at-plant 0.671 a 0.648 b 0.364 0.727 Spring strip pre-plant 0.681 a 0.895 a 0.413 0.780 Fall bed + Spring strip 0.617 a 0.482 bc 0.396 0.536 LSD 0.108 0.187

• *Means followed by the same letter within each column are not significantly

different according to Fisher’s Protected LSD at p ≤ 0.05

Summary

• Early season cotton growth rates were the highest in strip-tilled plots two

weeks before planting.

2014 Yield*

Lewiston Rocky Mount Tillage May 5 May 28 May 9 May 29

• ------------------- kg/ha --------------------

Conventional (spring bed) 1767 b 1812 ab 1871 1122 b Fall strip (flat) 1927 a 1291 d 1815 1359 a Fall bed 1962 a 1628 c 1822 1366 a Spring strip at-plant (flat) 1897 ab 1740 bc 1823 1262 ab Spring strip pre-plant (flat) 2018 a 1923 a 1815 1364 a Fall bed + Spring strip 1905 ab 1882 ab 1841 1176 b LSD 154 150

• 161

*Means followed by the same letter within each column are not significantly different according to Fisher’s Protected LSD at p ≤ 0.05

Everything was ripped

2015 Yield*

Tillage Lewiston Rocky Mount

• ---- kg/ha -----

Conventional (spring bed) 1341 1253 ab Fall strip (flat) 1303 1198 b Fall bed 1226 1244 ab Spring strip at-plant (flat) 1354 1375 a Spring strip pre-plant (flat) 1223 1331 ab Fall bed + Spring strip 1277 1363 a LSD

• 150

*Means followed by the same letter within each location are not significantly different according to Fisher’s Protected LSD at p ≤ 0.05

Everything was ripped

Summary

• When yields differed, strip-tilled plots two weeks before planting had the

highest yield or was not different than the highest yielding treatment.

Long Term Tillage Comparisons

Clayton, NC

Materials and Methods

Tillage System Initial Fall 2013 Tillage Annual Tillage Fall Rip/Bed

• Fall Rip/Bed

Fall Bed Rip/Bed Fall Bed No-Till Rip/Bed

• Continuous No-Till
• Strip-Till
• Spring Strip-Till

Conventional

• Spring Rip/Bed

Lint yield differences by tillage practices

1- Fall rip/bed 2- Fall bed after initial rip/bed in fall 2013 3- No-till after initial rip/bed in fall 2013 4- No-till 5- Strip (rip) till 6- Conventional rip/bed

1650 1700 1750 1800 1850 1900 1950 2000 1 2 3 4 5 6

Yield (lbs lint/A) Tillage

ab* ab b b a a

*Means followed by the same letter not significantly different at p < 0.05 according to Fisher’s protected LSD.

2015 Soil Resistance Harvest*

Soil Depth (cm) Tillage 0-5 5-10 10-15 15-20 20-25 25-30

• ---------------------------------- MPa -----------------------------------

Fall rip/bed 0.172 0.363 bc 0.915 b 1.246 b 1.609 2.710 Fall Bed (2013 rip&bed) 0.131 0.295 bc 0.675 bc 0.869 b 1.506 1.649 No-Till (2013 rip&bed) 0.213 0.499 bc 0.727 bc 1.161 b 2.305 2.981 No-Till 0.274 0.872 a 2.319 a 2.829 a 3.314 1.683 Strip-Till 0.137 0.544 b 0.889 b 0.927 b 1.425 2.577 Conventional 0.120 0.234 c 0.363 c 0.678 b 1.170 1.934 LSD

• 0.285

0.423 0.891

• *Means followed by the same letter within each column are not significantly

different according to Fisher’s Protected LSD at p ≤ 0.05

Summary

• Soil resistance was greatest in no-till plots, while conventional

raised beds had the least soil resistance at both planting and after harvest.

• After two full growing seasons, no-till 2013 had similar soil

resistance measurements to conventional raised beds.

Yield*

Tillage 2014 2015

• ---- kg/ha -----

Fall rip/bed 2092 ab 1085 Fall Bed (2013 rip&bed) 2085 ab 1027 No-Till (2013 rip&bed) 2206 a 972 No-Till 1982 b 978 Strip-Till 1982 b 1029 Conventional 2180 a 1083 LSD 138

• *Means followed by the same letter within each column are not significantly

different according to Fisher’s Protected LSD at p ≤ 0.05

Summary

• In 2014, yields were higher in plots that had any form of raised

beds, including stale beds raised in the fall of 2013.

• There were no differences in yields between tillage treatments

in 2015.

Table 2. Effect of input treatments on lint yield of cotton in Edgecombe County in 2015. Treatment Lint Yield (kg ha-1) 1-Base Extension Recommendation 1012 ab* 2-Base + 150% Soil Fertility 1082 a 3-Base + In-Furrow Fungicide (Ridomil Gold 106 ml ha-1) 917 b 4-Base + In-Furrow Insecticide (Admire Pro 672 ml ha-1) 1001 ab 5-Base + Foliar Fungicide (Quadris 584 ml ha-1) 998 ab 6-Base + Potassium Nitrate (50lb/A total, 5 applications) 1073 a 7-Base + “Kitchen Sink” (Inputs 2-6) 1098 a LSD 113

Table 3. Lint Yield Gain and Return by Additional Input Above Current Extension Recommendations

Treatment Yield Gain above Base (kg ha-1) Net Return Above Base ($)† Cost per kg lint gained ($) 1-Base Extension Recommendation

• 2-Base + 150% Soil Fertility

70

• 12.17

1.71 3-Base + In-Furrow Fungicide (Ridomil Gold 106 ml ha-1)

• 95
• 164.23
• 4-Base + In-Furrow Insecticide

(Admire Pro 672 ml ha-1)

• 11
• 46.48
• 5-Base + Foliar Fungicide

(Quadris 584 ml ha-1)

• 14
• 126.86
• 6-Base + Potassium Nitrate

(50lb/A total, 5 applications) 61 28.78 1.07 7-Base + “Kitchen Sink” (Inputs 2-6) 86

• 205.46

3.93

Lint Yield and Return by Treatment Averaged Across All Locations

Treatment Yield Gain above Base (lbs lint/A) Net Return Above Base ($)†

Price per lb lint gained ($)

1-Base Extension Recommendation

• 2-Base + 150% Soil Fertility

40

• 20.57

1.21 3-Base + In-Furrow Fungicide (Ridomil Gold 106 ml ha-1) 32 15.14 0.23 4-Base + In-Furrow Insecticide (Admire Pro 672 ml ha-1) 52 24.44 0.23 5-Base + Foliar Fungicide (Quadris 584 ml ha-1) 14

• 32.83

3.05 6-Base + Potassium Nitrate (50lb/A total, 5 applications) 26

• 8.18

1.01 7-Base + “Kitchen Sink” (Inputs 2-6) 104

• 64.00

1.32

†Based on cotton priced at $0.70 lb-1 and costs of inputs obtained December 2014, does not include application costs

Year Rainfall Rainfall + Irrigation Non-Irrigated Yield Irrigated Yield

• -------------- cm ---------------
• --------- kg/ha ----------

2001 21.84 35.05 900 1140* 2002 33.02 46.99 515 1010* 2003 48.01 61.98 941 952 2004 63.25 80.77 1030 1131 2005 30.99 46.48 952 1456* 2006 49.53 70.61 907 963 2007 29.21 54.10 521 1138* 2008 35.05 64.01 432 935* 2011 50.55 99.31 538 898* 2012 45.97 67.79 1529 1622 2013 50.29 55.27 1605 1671 2014 67.31 84.63 1299 1238 2015 32.72 64.97 534 1054* Mean 42.90 64.00 900 1170

*Significance at p≤0.05 within each year

Summary

• Response to irrigation 54% of the time
• Increase due to irrigation averaged 270 pounds lint/acre
• Increase due to irrigation averaged 463 pounds lint/acre in the

7 out of 13 years with statistically significant response to irrigation

• Lint yield of irrigation was only numerically lower in 1 of 13

years

=square =white bloom =boll

Vegetative Squaring Bloom Early Bloom Strategy Vegetative Squaring Bloom Low Rate Multiple Strategy ? Planting May 1 Vegetative Squaring Bloom 1st square June 10 1st bloom July 1 Last effect bloom

• Aug. 21

Modified Early Bloom Strategy

?

Vegetative Squaring Bloom Early Bloom Strategy Vegetative Squaring Bloom Low Rate Multiple Strategy ? Planting May 1 Vegetative Squaring Bloom 1st square June 10 1st bloom July 1 Last effect bloom

• Aug. 21

Modified Early Bloom Strategy

?

X X X

Acknowledgements

• Peanut Belt, Upper Coastal Plain, Central Crops

Research Station staff

• Shep Lassiter

Thank You