Research

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.”

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.

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Brook Wilke is manager of W.K. Kellogg Farm. His article was originally published in Farmer’s Exchange.
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Rotational Grazing Mitigates Greenhouse Gases

08.08.18

According to data from the United Nations, livestock generate 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and cattle are responsible for more emissions than any other livestock species.

Using rotational grazing is one way livestock farmers can do their part to decrease those emissions, while saving money on feeding their herds.

“It’s hard to be a small dairy farmer these days,” said Brook Wilke, Farm Manager for the W.K. Kellogg Farm. “The prices are horrible, so you have to adapt by increasing the quality of your product, or reducing your costs, and grazing is one way to do both.”

Cows graze at KBS

Grazing cows on pasture decreases not only the economic cost of feeding cows, but also the environmental costs often associated with conventional management. When the feeding quality and efficiency of a herd of cows is improved, farmers are doing themselves and the environment a huge favor.

Cows produce methane (CH4) during their digestive process, and decomposing manure generates both methane and nitrous oxide. While livestock like cattle produce a great deal of greenhouse gases, the grasslands they graze on also have the capacity to store those gases and prevent them from being redistributed into the air.

If cows are left to graze one area of pasture continuously, they can eat the grass down to the ground, disturbing stores of carbon. If cows are rotated between different areas of pasture, then those stores can remain intact, halting further emissions from those sources.

Rotational grazing allows cows to get the nutrients they need and maintains the health of the grass and soil over the long term, all while keeping carbon in the ground instead of releasing it into the atmosphere. With a rotational grazing system, there’s less need to feed cows grain or artificially fertilize the grass.

One study found that farms participating in sustainable agriculture practices like rotational grazing produced 19% fewer emissions than non-participating farms in the first two years, dropping to 35% fewer emissions after participating for longer than two years.

Grazing School

The W.K. Kellogg Farm’s Pasture Dairy Center uses a rotational grazing strategy for its dairy herd.

“Because of our pasture management practices, we’re a carbon sink. We’re sequestering it, which is hard to do using conventional management practices,” said Howard Straub, KBS Pasture Dairy Center Manager.

Environmentally conscious livestock farming is possible, using methods like rotational grazing. The Pasture Dairy Center manages 240 acres of pasture, which is divided up into a variety of forage mixes, and different areas are used for research experiments and comparisons.

At the Farm, data-driven management is key. From rotating cows between paddocks based on measurements of available forage biomass to irrigating based on soil moisture data from electroconnectivity sensors, Straub and Wilke are on a mission to farm smarter and more sustainably.

Straub works directly with individual farmers who are interested in adopting similar strategies to those practiced at the Farm, and the Farm offers a variety of professional development programs for farmers, like Grazing School.

The Farm’s mission, set by W.K. Kellogg, is to “operate this farm under a most modern system of farm management so that it may serve as an object lesson to the people of the region in which it is located.” Through their conservation-minded management choices and outreach efforts, the Farm’s staff are doing exactly that.

For more information on the impacts of animal agriculture on climate change, visit the KBS LTER’s website for a variety of resources. This blog post originally appeared on the main KBS website, written by Bethany Bohlen.