2018 SWCS International Annual Conference July 29-August 1, 2018 Albuquerque Convention Center

1. Enhancing Soil Sustainability and
Soil Health in an Integrated
Crop Grazing System
Larry Cihacek1, Songul Senturklu2,3 and Douglas Landblom3
1North Dakota State University Soil Science Department,
2Cankkale Onsetz Mertz University, 3North Dakota State Univeristy
Dickinson Rearch Extension Center

2. 5000 Foot View

3. Integrated Crop and Livestock Systems
 Crop sequence:
◦ Spring wheat (continuous)
◦ Spring wheat (Rotation)
◦ Triticale/hairy vetch cover crop (grazed or hayed)
◦ Field pea/ barley (hayed/grazed)
◦ Corn (grazed in field)
◦ Sunflower (grain)

4. Crop rotation
Spring Wheat – Control
Cash Crop
Triticale/ Hairy
Vetch/Cover Crop:
Cows Graze
After Weaning
Corn:
Yearling Steers
Beef Income
Field Pea-Barley:
Yearling Steers
Beef Income
Sunflower:
Cash Crop
Spring Wheat – Rotation
Cash Crop
DiversityNo Diversity

5. Annual Nitrogen Fertilizer Application
(2011-2016)

6. Spring Wheat Yields

8. Soil N Status
 Mineral N tending to be higher
throughout the growing season in the
rotation spring wheat than in the
continuous spring wheat.
 Soil test based N requirements are
decreasing with time for both systems.

9. 2014 and 2105 Seasonal NO3-N

10. 2014 and 2015 Seasonal Mineral N

11. Integrated Crop and Grazing Systems Study0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
3-Year Average End of Season N
C (O) C(I) R(O) R(I) N
ResidualN(kg/ha)
NO3-N NH4-N Total Mineral N
Figure 1. A 3-year average of end of season profile NO3-N, NH4-N and total
plant available mineral N in continuous HRSW (C) or HRSW in rotation (R)
from samples collected from soil with (I) or without (O) root exclusion areas.
Native grassland (N) is used as a comparison.

12.  In root exclusion areas,
Continuous HRSW = 82 lb. N/A
Rotation HRSW = 96 lb. N/A
Difference = 14 lb. N/A
 At 2.5 lb. N/bu. grain - > 5 bu./A grain yield
increase.

13. Soil Physical Properties
Table 1. 2017 data for crop treatment effects on water infiltration, wind erodible soil
fraction and air-dry and field-moist aggregate stability.
Crop Water Infiltration
Rate
Wind Erodible Soil
Fraction
Air-dry Aggregate
Stability
Field-moist
Aggregate Stability
in./hr. % % %
Spring Wheat
(C)
0.74 a 28.3 a 91.2 a 96.5 a
Spring Wheat
(R)
1.07 a 40.5 a 92.6 a 90.4 ab
Sunflower 1.05 a 35.0 a 89.5 a 81.9 b
Triticale-Hairy
Vetch
0.92 a 23.6 a 96.3 a 91.5 ab
Pea-Barley 0.83 a 32.5 a 89.6 a 89.8 a b
Corn 1.36 a 30.6 a 97.0 a 96.2 a

14. Other Ongoing Studies at this Location
Changes in N mineralization over time.
Changes in soil test values for other elements.
Tea bags and cloth decomposition.
Microbial and soil health tests.

15. Our Research Specialists
Partial Support by USDA-NIFA-AFRI-SARE and the ND
Experiment Station