Keywords
No-till, continuous cropping, wheat, grain sorghum
Abstract
In 1996, an effort began to quantify soil water storage, crop water use, and crop productivity on dryland systems in western Kansas. Research on 4-year crop rotations with wheat and grain sorghum was initiated at the Southwest Research-Extension Center near Tribune, KS. Rotations were wheat-wheat-sorghum-fallow (WWSF), wheat-sorghum-sorghum-fallow (WSSF), and continuous wheat (WW). Soil water at wheat planting averaged about 9 in. following sorghum, which is about 3 in. more than the average for the second wheat crop in a WWSF rotation. Soil water at sorghum planting was only about 1.5 in. less for the second sorghum crop compared to sorghum following wheat. The 2019 grain yields of both wheat and grain sorghum in all rotations were much greater than the long-term average. Grain yield of recrop wheat averaged about 75% of the yield of wheat following sorghum. Grain yield of continuous wheat averaged about 60% of the yield of wheat grown in a 4-year rotation following sorghum. Generally, wheat yields were similar following one or two sorghum crops. Similarly, average sorghum yields were the same following one or two wheat crops. Yield of the second sorghum crop in a WSSF rotation averages ~65% of the yield of the first sorghum crop.
Recommended Citation
Schlegel, A.; Holman, J.; and Burnett, A.
(2020)
"Wheat and Grain Sorghum in Four-Year Rotations,"
Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports:
Vol. 6:
Iss.
8.
https://doi.org/10.4148/2378-5977.7953
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