European small grain systems reviewed
LANCASTER European
farmers set yield goals near the
150-bushel-per-acre mark for their
small grain crops. How they ex
pect to reach these yield goals was
the topic of an international
seminar on the technology of
cereal production, yields and
productivity, organized by the
Royal Agricultural Society of
England last summer.
This technology, as reviewed by
several U.S. small grain resear
chers, has resulted in average
wheat yield increases in England
of almost 40 percent during the last
10 years to a national average of
six tons per hectare (89 bushels per
acre).
One U.S. representative at the
European seminar was Mark
Alley, associate professor of
Chester Co. DHIA
(Continued from Page D2l)
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agronomy at Virginia Polytechnic
Institute and State University if
Blacksburg.
He compared the European
technology to U.S. production
methods and says, “We have a
great unexploited potential for
small grams. We have soils with
good production capacity, as good
or better than those in Europe
where some of the better growers
average 150 bushels of barley per
acre. That’s eight tons per hectare
and their high yield clubs set goals
of 10-ton crops.”
Alley reports that the philosophy
of cereal production is based on the
high value of the crop in European
countries and the “total system
thinking.” Production techniques
in the total system ranges from
crop residue management and
tillage systems to fertilizer and
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plant growth regulator ap
plications.
Management factors
The management factors that
aided progress toward the high
yields are: (1) planting dates; (2)
seeding rates; (3) nitrogen rates
and timing; and (4) plant growth
regulators to control lodging. To
develop these management factors
for U.S. growers will take research
and field trials, Alley says, but he
suggests farmers can begin a high
yield program by incorporating
the following steps into their grain
production program:
-Select the best adapted variety
from university and company
performance trials. Look for top
yields over two to three years for
consistency. Also watch for
disease resistance, milling
qualities and characteristics, plus
maturity dates if doublecropping.
In Kurope, breeders are con
centrating on disease resistance
and yield potential. The economic
goal of the government is for their
countries to be self-sufficient. This
places more emphasis on the small
gram breeding programs than in
the U.S., says Alley. “Their
leties are bred for high fertility
high yields.”
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Soil test
-Soil test for fertility levels,
including potash and potassium.
“Soil testing is standard procedure
in both U.S. and Europe,” Alley
says. “But, the European farmers
never question building the fer
tility to high levels.” The Germans
also apply quantities of
micronutrients, although Alley
reports that research does not
support deficiencies of these
nutrients in wheat. In some U.S.
soils, possible deficient nutrients
are copper and manganese
because of low native supplies and
boron because of its mobility in
sandy soils.
-Seedbed preparation is a key to
uniform depth and placement.
Placing emphasis on uniform
depth for maximum uniform
emergence, Alley says, planting
can be done in no-tillage fields with
several models of well-adjusted no
till drills.
-Seeding rates are precisely
managed in high yielding systems.
To manage planting to a desired
population, seeds must be counteu,
not planted by the pount per acre.
Varieties will have varied seed
sizes and required seed depths for
best performance. In Virginia
tests, Alley says, the seeding is
determined by number of seed per
foot of row to reach desired
populations. Another consideration
is that wheat plants compensate
for population differences like
soybeans, where the pod set in
creases in a thin stand to yield the
same. The European goal is 600-700
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