Cereal rye trials can help growers decide which varieties to grow for end use in distilled spirits

10.14.22

Photo by Brook Wilke.

A recently published article based on a multi-year study aims to help growers and distillers select the best rye varieties for Michigan crops.

A team of scientists at Michigan State University, including Brook Wilke, associate director of agronomy for the W.K. Kellogg Biological Station’s Long-term Agroecology Research site, among others, has been evaluating cereal rye varieties at three different Michigan locations since the fall of 2019 to determine what varieties are best suited for end use in distilled spirits.

About the project

Photo by James DeDecker.

In research plots at KBS in Hickory Corners and at sites in the Upper Peninsula town of Chatham and in Gratiot County, more than 20 varieties were evaluated for attributes including yield, protein content, spirit yield, and flavor, managed with either normal or enhanced practices. A report summarizing two years of trials details some of the findings.

The next steps in the ongoing project are to produce a subset of these rye varieties in larger quantities at multiple locations to facilitate higher volume spirit production, allowing professionally trained tasting panels to evaluate specific flavor profiles of unique varieties grown in different locations.

Read the full article.

Phil Robertson honored by LTAR Network for local, national contributions

10.14.22

Phil Robertson, Michigan State University Distinguished Professor of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences at the W.K. Kellogg Biological Station, is the recipient of two awards from the U.S. Long-term Agroecosystem Research Network, or LTAR.

Phil Robertson smiles at the camera while crouching in an agricultural field at KBS. — Phil Robertson

Robertson, an internationally recognized crop and soil scientist, received the honors at the 2022 LTAR Annual Meeting, which was held in July in Pullman, Washington. The Founders Award and Network Impact Award recognize his co-leadership of the Croplands Common Experiment Workgroup and other contributions to the LTAR Network.

Stephen Hamilton, MSU professor of ecosystem ecology and biogeochemistry and a KBS colleague of Robertson’s, wrote the letter of nomination for the awards. He noted Robertson’s key involvement in the early stages of the formation and operation of the network.

“His 2008 paper in BioScience outlined the need for this network,” he wrote. “As LTAR developed, he actively contributed by sharing his insights and perspectives from his years of experience with agroecological research at KBS.”

He added, “Many aspects of our scientific activities, including the experimental design, measurements, and data management, have benefitted greatly from his input.”

KBS Director Fredric Janzen also acknowledged Robertson’s enduring contributions to the network. He said, “Phil’s understated, longstanding, multifarious efforts on behalf of sustainable, regenerative agriculture—locally and nationally—are long overdue for prominent recognition and gratitude.”

Phil Robertson

Robertson has been a faculty member in MSU’s Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences since 1981. He served as director of KBS’s Long-term Ecological Research program from 1988 to 2017, and is on the leadership team for the Department of Energy’s Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center. He also is director of the KBS LTAR site.

His research interests include the biogeochemistry and ecology of field crop ecosystems and in particular nitrogen and carbon dynamics, greenhouse gas fluxes, and responses to climate change.

Robertson is a Fellow of the Soil Science Society of America and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 2005, he received MSU’s Distinguished Faculty award. He earned his Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Indiana University.

Long-term Agroecosystem Research Network

The USDA’s Long-term Agroecosystem Research Network is a partnership of 18 premier, long-term research sites across the United States, charged with researching national strategies for the sustainable intensification of U.S. agriculture. Key to this effort is establishing collaborative experiments that are informed by stakeholders. The sites all were well-established research locations prior to joining the LTAR network, and continue to study local agricultural issues in addition to LTAR research goals.

The KBS LTAR site joined the network in 2015 and was fully funded in 2020. The KBS site is focused on helping to meet future sustainability challenges for cropping systems of the upper Midwest, with research designed with stakeholders to advance both food production and positive environmental and societal outcomes for agriculture.

At the time the KBS site received full funding, Robertson remarked, “What’s new and exciting about LTAR is its emphasis on a long-term partnership between scientists and stakeholders such as farmers and others interested in agricultural outcomes to design durable, sustainable farming systems in Michigan and beyond.”

A sustainable summer: Agriculture, academics, and a good book

08.12.22

Sarah Hubbard poses in front of an ivy-covered brick wall at the W.K. Kellogg Biological Station. — Sarah Hubbard

Sarah Hubbard was the summer 2022 W.K. Kellogg Biological Station sustainable agriculture extension intern. She’s a third-year student at Michigan State University, studying environmental studies and sustainability. Sarah plans to continue studying sustainable agriculture into graduate school, and she is particularly interested in improving social-ecological resilience in agricultural systems to improve community well-being. In addition to her internship, Sarah also took an ecology class this summer at KBS.

In the field

At KBS, Sarah worked with all things agriculture. She spent most of her time at the Station working at long-term research sites—LTER and LTAR—taking samples, recording data, planting and harvesting. She also works with MSU Extension educators around Michigan that partner with producers and stakeholders to promote and establish sustainable agricultural practices in Michigan’s food systems. This might include planning field days and workshops, taking samples on farms, creating educational tools, or attending conferences.

Sarah Hubbard stands in a wheat field against a blue sky at the W.K. Kellogg Farm.

Sarah felt that her role at KBS was important because she was able to act as a bridge between the sustainable agriculture research being done at KBS and the outreach work of MSU Extension. She said, “Every day I am here I learn something new about research, agriculture, or ecology. These experiences are going to make me a more well-rounded researcher.”

One of Sarah’s favorite KBS experiences was being part of the KBS LTAR Field Workshop. She was able to network with producers and other agricultural professionals and hear about their concerns and ideas for increasing the adoption of sustainable practices.

Sarah decided to come work at KBS because she wanted to be exposed to large-scale agriculture, its systems, and the research that’s required to understand sustainable agriculture’s full complexity.

For the fun of it

Sarah Hubbard sits on a tractor catching wheat in a mesh bag at the W.K. Kellogg Farm.

While not working or in class, Sarah enjoyed swimming in Gull Lake and reading books in the sun. She appreciated the variety in her day-to-day activities at KBS, and that she was able to meet new people, learn new things, and spend lots of time outside. Windmill Island was her favorite KBS spot to visit.

“I have learned so much about agriculture, ecology and research,” Sarah said. “And also the way producers can interact with and benefit from Extension services and programs like the LTAR.”

How to describe the KBS summer experience in a word? For Sarah, it would be “inspiring.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sarah Hubbard was the 2022 W.K. Kellogg Biological Station sustainable agriculture extension intern. She was interviewed by Alex Sills, the 2022 KBS external communications intern.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Advantages and challenges to inter-seeding cover crops into corn

01.23.20

Growing cover crops after corn can be a real challenge. Waiting until after corn harvest to seed cover crops restricts the usable cover crop species to winter cereal grains (rye, wheat, triticale). Very little cover crop growth is expected in the fall when planting after corn grain harvest, which leads to slow growth in the spring as well. To improve cover crop performance after corn, a number of farmers and researchers (including us at the W.K. Kellogg Farm) across the country have been working on strategies to inter-seed cover crops during the corn growing season. These methods get the cover crop established earlier for more growth potential and grazing opportunities, and expand options for species selection, but inter-seeding cover crops is not without its share of challenges. Here’s what I’ve learned over the past few years.

Seeding rates and methods

When we talk about using an airplane to seed cover crops in corn, we are usually considering a late summer or early fall seeding, as the corn is beginning to show signs of maturing. The cost of hiring someone to apply these cover crops on your fields can be very competitive with drilling the cover crop yourself, but the cost does depend on how far you are located from an airport.

A cover crop that includes cereal rye and hairy vetch grows post-harvest along a row of corn.

Cereal rye and hairy vetch growing during corn harvest

The species of cover crops typically used are cereal rye, annual ryegrass, hairy vetch or crimson clover. Other winter cereal grains can be used, but cereal rye and annual ryegrass seem particularly suited to germinating on the soil surface Pictured here are cereal rye and a small amount of hairy vetch that were aerially seeded into corn in early September at 80 lbs. per acre; the photo was taken in late October at harvest time.

Cereal rye is commonly seeded around 60 lbs. per acre, and annual ryegrass around 20 lbs. per acre. Hairy vetch and crimson clover rates should be adjusted based on the following crops’ nitrogen needs. These legume seeds are more expensive, so lower rates (under 10 lbs. per acre) are ideal if you don’t need the nitrogen fixation benefits. Herbicides applied to corn can be a factor, but are generally not a concern for cereal rye cover crops seeded in September.

Early inter-seeding

Early inter-seeding of cover crops into corn typically refers to planting the cover crop between the corn rows during the early phases of corn growth. This is often at the same time as the last cultivation in organic fields, or at the time of herbicide and side-dress nitrogen application in conventional farms. This timing works well because we can still drive our normal tractors and implements through the field without damaging the corn. We’ve seeded cover crops anywhere from the V3 to V7 stage, with successes and failures across the range, including:

Successes and failures

The cover crop has not caused increases or decreases in the corn yield. One year in our trials, the V3 seeding slightly reduced corn yield, but it was more due to the weeds that weren’t controlled than the cover crop growth.

Planting the cover crop seed in the ground increases chances of success. Broadcast seeding can lead to variable success depending on rainfall after seeding. We’ve since retrofitted a rotary hoe to apply the cover crop seed ahead of rotary hoe units that fit between the corn rows and help to incorporate the seed. Other farmers have built inter-seeders that have planting units mounted on a toolbar between the corn rows.

Small seeded cover crops are better than large seeded ones. Species we’ve had success with include annual ryegrass, crimson clover, dwarf-essex rape, and sometimes radishes. Oats and peas have not worked in our trials.

A really good crop of corn (i.e., >200 bushels/acre) can out-compete the cover crop, resulting in very poor to no cover crop stands after corn harvest.

Herbicide programs often need to be restricted to avoid having a residual effect on cover crops. See website* in footnote below for information from MSU about herbicides and inter-seeding.

Corn rows: To widen or not to widen?

Crimson clover growing between two corn rows.

Crimson clover, annual ryegrass and dwarf-essex rape inter-seeded between 60” corn rows

Several farmers across the country have been trying wider corn rows (i.e., 60” between rows) to improve early inter-seeded cover crop establishment and growth. We decided to try this in 2019 at the Kellogg Farm in an experiment, primarily to test the effect on corn yields. When compared to 30” row spacing, keeping the total plant population per acre constant, corn planted in 60” rows yielded 8.5% lower (147.5 bu/A to 135 bu/A). The cover crop established in both row widths but cover crop biomass was greater in the 60” row corn plots.

More years of testing are needed to confirm these results, and we are considering testing some other management techniques that might narrow the corn yield gap, such as banding side-dress nitrogen next to the 60” corn row and trying different corn varieties. The wider row widths may also create opportunities for side-dressing manure during the corn growing season due to the wider driving path between rows.

We’ve found that we don’t have to wait until the corn is harvested to get cover crops established. Hopefully, the successes and failures we’ve experienced in our trials at the Kellogg Farm can improve the chances of success on your farm.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Brook Wilke is manager of W.K. Kellogg Farm. His article was originally published in Farmer’s Exchange.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Whys and Hows of Baleage

11.15.19

W.K. Kellogg Farm Manager Brook Wilke discusses the practice of baling forages and why it can be a smart choice for Michigan farmers. This article was originally published in the Michigan Sheep Producers Association quarterly newsletter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I grew up on a great farm in Nebraska, where the challenge with harvesting forages was not getting it dry, but instead keeping it moist enough to avoid losing all of the leaves during baling. Thus, I was in for a rude awakening when I moved to Michigan and discovered the realities of trying to dry forages in our humid environment. Luckily, the Kellogg Farm had just purchased a round bale wrapper, and I quickly learned the value of being able to make baleage.

Baleage refers to the product resulting from the process of baling forages when they are too wet to store as dry hay, and wrapping the bales in plastic to eliminate oxygen from contacting the hay during storage. Not only does this process make forage harvesting much less stressful due to the widening of harvest windows, it also can result in a few distinct advantages.

Advantages of making baleage

Potential for higher quality forage

Making baleage will not increase forage quality, but it can help you retain quality. Forages are at their peak quality at the time of harvest, and only lose quality during the drying and harvesting phase. The ability to harvest in a window of one or two dry days allows for a more flexible cutting schedule, and baling wet can reduce the time the forages are laying in the field. For legumes, baling with some moisture in the plants helps to retain leaves that are notorious for falling off during dry hay harvest.

More total forage yield

Making dry hay in Michigan takes at least two days of drying in the field, and oftentimes more than that. Every day that we are driving on the field after cutting results in delayed regrowth. The sooner we can get the forage off of the field, the sooner the new growth can get started without the stress of wheel traffic, resulting in more growing days over the course of a year. There also are more opportunities for making a fall forage harvest, when drying hay is nearly impossible in our climate.

Lower storage costs

The plastic that is used to wrap bales, which I estimate to be about $3-4 per round bale in our operation, does add cost. But, baleage is typically stored outside, meaning we don’t need a large pole barn that is needed for dry hay. There’s also no risk of baled forages getting rained on before we are able to get the bales in the barn, which can increase quality, but also reduce stress.

More flexibility than chopped silage

Chopped silages are stored in upright silos, or more commonly in piles or large plastic bags that are packed. These methods typically require large quantities of forage at one time, and offer little flexibility to segregate fields or spread out the timing of harvest. Baleage allows for a lot of flexibility, allowing separation by fields, forage type, quality and harvest timing. This flexibility allows for better ability to match up the feed quality with the particular group of animals being fed. Baleage also results in the ability to easily sell forages, and separate the forages by type and quality.

Timing

Late summer or fall is a particularly great time to consider making baleage in Michigan instead of fighting with the weather to make dry hay, or not harvesting at all. Many of our common forages can produce large quantities of forage in the fall, but endophyte free tall fescue is a favorite of mine. Tall fescue can generate a large quantity of high-quality forage in the fall and tolerates fall harvest fairly well. The process of making baleage can also increase palatability; tall fescue is known for having waxy leaves that can sometimes deter animals from preferring to graze directly.

When harvesting legumes in the fall, it’s best to avoid harvesting during a window from about late September through October, depending on your particular location in Michigan. These forages need ample time to regrow before a hard frost to replenish root reserves for winter survival. It is possible to take a very late cutting, when no more growth is expected. November 1 or later is generally the time when I think it’s safe in southern Michigan to take a late cutting of alfalfa.

Fall is also a great time to harvest baleage from cover crops planted after small grains, or on prevent plant acres in 2019. At the Kellogg Farm, we’ve been working on a cover crop blend to plant after wheat that will produce a cutting of forage in the fall, but also overwinter until the following spring when it will be terminated prior to cash crop planting. Currently, the mixture contains sorghum/sudan, oats, red or crimson clover, radish, rape and annual ryegrass. The key is to plant the sorghum sudan at a rate where it will produce significant biomass, but not outcompete all of the other species; approximately 10 lbs per acre seems to be a good target.

Tips

Finally, here are a few simple tips for harvesting baleage.

Don’t worry about the exact moisture content at harvest; 50% is ideal, but baleage can be preserved from 25% – 70% moisture.
Avoid dirt in the hay or on the edge of the bales, which can decrease quality. Using wheel rakes when the forages or ground is wet can incorporate a lot of soil into the bale. Dragging bales along the ground during the wrapping process can also result on dirt on the bale surface.
Wrap bales as soon as possible after baling, waiting more than 12 hours can result in problems.
Innoculants can help increase forage quality, but are not essential for good preservation. Mold inhibitors and beneficial microbes can both deter unwanted microbes and speed up the fermentation process for less dry matter loss and improved quality.
Keep a close eye on the plastic wrap, and repair any holes (even the smallest ones) as soon as possible with tape.
Use spray paint to identify the bales so that you remember what’s inside and when to feed or sell them.

At the Kellogg Farm, we are here to help with any particular questions about making baleage. Feel free to contact me with questions, at (269) 671-2509 or wilkebro@msu.edu.