—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 6, 1973
6
Managii
Wheat producers in the Central
Great Plains need not forfeit
acceptable grain protein levels in
order to maintain maximum
yields.
Studies by ARS soil scientists
Darryl E Smika, North Platte,
Nebr., and Wally Greb, Akron,
Colo., indicate that protein levels
of 13 percent or higher are
possible when yields average 30
to 50 ore more bushels per acre.
Grain protein levels below the
11 5 per cent minimum ac
ceptable for milling bread flour
have been reported in western
Kansas and western Nebraska,
but there have been conflicting
reports on the causes. In some
studies, protein content declined
as yield increased, while higher
yield was not accompanied by
lower protein in other studies.
Protein is the principal
nitrogen-containing constituent
m the wheat kernel. Soil and
climatic factors affecting the
nitrogen nutrition of the wheat
plant will therefore produce
differences in the protein content
of the grain Dr Smika and Mr.
Greb studied the major soil and
climatic influences on grain
protein using data from 48 crop
years at North Platte, Akron, and
southwestern Nebraska
locations
They identified two positive
and two negative influenced on
grain protein levels:
- Protein increased 0 13 percent
for each pound of nitrate nitrogen
per acre at the 4-to 6-foot depth in
the soil at seeding time.
- Protein increased with
maximum air temperatures up to
90 degrees F. during the 15th to
20th day before maturity but
declined with higher temperature
during the 5-day period.
- Protein decreased 0.45 to 0.75
percent for each increase of one
inch in available soil water at
seeding time.
- Protein decreased 1.5 percent
for each 1.0 inch of rainfall
received during the 55th to 40th
day before grain maturity.
The combined influence of any
two of the four factors—soil
nitrogen, maximum air tem-
Penno. Broiler
Placements Off
Broiler chick placements in
Pennsylvania dropped for the
second week in a row as the week
ending, Dec 23, showed 1,172,000
day-old chicks beginning their
feeding cycle, according to a
report this week from the Penn
sylvania Crop Reporting Service.
This is one percent below both
the preceding week and the same
week a year ago The current 10-
week average trails the
corresponding period in 1971 by
eight percent.
Although settings of eggs for
broiler-type hatch fell three
percent from a week earlier at
1,728,000 this is eight percent
better than the same week last
year and the three-week average
tops a similar period last year by
seven percent
The heavy shipment of day-old
chicks to points outside the state
earlier this year has been slowly
tapering off. These shipments
now average under 200,000, ten
percent less than in 1971.
Help Keep Pipelines
From Freezing
Repairing doors to the pump
house and replacing broken
window panes helps keep the
water pump from freezing on
cold nights A socket for a heat
lamp just over the pump is
helpful on extremely cold nights
when the temperature drops very
quickly, says N. Henry Wooding,
Extension agricultural engineer
at The Pennsylvania State
University
hg the So
perature, soil water, and rain
fall-more accurately predicted
protein contept than did any one
alone, and use of all four gave the
closet statistical relationship to
protein.
Wheat producers, of course,
cannot control rainfall or temp
terature during the growing
season, but they can influence
soil water and soil nitrogen
available at seeding time by
management practices. The
combined influence of these
factors produced a reasonably
accurate prediction of grain
protein content at all levels
studied.
The scientists found that 11
inches of soil water and 95 pounds
of nitrate nitrogen per acre would
have been needed to produce
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grain with 12 percent protein at
the highest yield—sB bushels per
acre. They point out that this soil
water level can be obtained in
most years on the Central Great
Plains with good stubble-mulch
fallow practices. Nitrogen fer
tilizer, in amounts balanced
according to available soil water,
may frequently be needed.
The studies also help explain
the conflicting relationships
between nitrate levels and yield
reported by other investigators.
Available nitrogen limited both
protein content and yield when
grain protein levels were bet
ween 9 and 11.5 percent. Protein
levels greater than 12 per cent
were obtained with higher
amounts of available nitrogen
and smaller amounts of soil
\
' X
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water. Thus, limiting water af
fected only yield, but limiting
nitrogen influenced both yield
and protein in the grain.
The researchers say there is no
reason why yields higher than the
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