2022 Projects: Winter Cereals as Double Crops in Corn or Sorghum Rotations
How Much Nitrogen Do We Need At Green-Up of Winter Cereals?
Due to the drought in 2012, more farmers became interested in growing winter cereals as double crop, benefiting from the protection offered by the cereal as cover crop and harvesting the cereal as forage in May to increase per acre crop yields. Properly managed, these crops have supplied, on average, 2 tons of dry matter per acre while in some fields in 2012 and 2013 we measured up to 4 tons of dry matter of high quality forage from winter cereals planted after corn silage, even with little growth in the fall. Our two main nutrient management questions with growing winter cereals for forage is: (1) how much N do we need at green-up for optimal economic yield, and (2) how does planting date, fall N availability and spring N addition influence fall growth and N uptake and spring performance? For the first question, on-farm trials (4 times replicated) were implemented in 2013-2016 to quantify crop response to N addition (5 N rates at greenup: 0, 30, 60, 90, and 120 lbs N/acre). In total, 63 on-farm trials were established and harvested these past three years. For the second question, 4 on-farm trials were established from 2012-2014 to see how planting date (before or after 9/20) and available N in both the fall and spring (5 N rates at planting and green-up: 0, 30, 60, 90, and 120 lbs N/acre) influenced N uptake and growth in the fall and spring performance. Additional work is ongoing to determine what drives differences in optimum N rate across sites.
If you are interested in participating, contact Quirine Ketterings (qmk2@cornell.edu or 607-255-3061). You can also write to: Quirine Ketterings, Nutrient Management Spear Program, Department of Animal Science, Cornell University, 323 Morrison Hall, Ithaca NY 14853.
Goals
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Our goals are to determine the N need of winter cereals (cereal rye, triticale, winter wheat) seeded after corn silage harvest and harvested for forage prior to corn planting (at flag leaf stage) in May, and to determine how triticale responds to planting date and N availability in both the fall and spring (N uptake, growth and quality).
Funding Sources
This project has been sponsored by grants from the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program (NNYADP), Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Extension (NESARE), and federal formula funds.
Additional Resources
Trial Setup Protocols
- Trial Setup Protocols in Detail (3-5-2014)
- Trial Setup Presentation (Step by Step; pdf) (3-11-2013)
- Trial Setup Webinar (held 3-11-2013)
- Trial Harvest Protocols in Detail (3-5-2014; pdf)
- Trial Harvest Webinar (held 5-8-2013)
- Trial Harvest Presentation (Step by Step; pdf) (5-2-2013)
- DoubleCropTrialDesigns2014.pdf (overall protocol with plot plan; pdf)
- DoubleCropTrialDesigns2014.docx (overall protocol with plot plan; word)
- DoubleCropFieldDataEntryForms2014.pdf (forms for data collection in the field; pdf)
- DoubleCropFieldDataEntryForms2014.docx (forms for data collection in the field; word)
Farmer Impact Stories
- Hosting NMSP Double-Crop N Rate Study Proves Useful to Curtis Martin’s Farm (12-20-2016)
- No-till Makes Double Cropping a Good Fit for Angel Rose Dairy (12-14-2015)
- When is it Profitable to Double Crop Corn Silage and Winter Grains for Forage? (11-2-2015)
- NMSP's Double Crop N Rate Study at Joleanna Holsteins Has Local Impact (8-27-2014)
- Crop Consultant Collaboration with NMSP Promoted Double Cropping in Northern New York (2-17-2014)
- Grazing Specialist Teams Up with NMSP for Double Crop Study at Schumacher Dairy-Ops (1-9-2014)
- Crop Advisor Explores Double Crop Concept with NMSP Nitrogen Rate Study at AA Dairy (12-10-2013)
- Oneida County Extension Specialist Explores Double-Cropping with NMSP Field Study (10-30-2013)
- Northern NY Crop Advisor and NMSP Initiate Double Crop Field Research (10-11-2013)
- New Field Crop Specialist Dives into Collaborative Double-Cropping Research with NMSP (9-14-2013)
- From Cover Crop to Double Crop at the Van Slyke's Dairy Farm in Pike, NY (11-30-2012)
Fact Sheets
- Agronomy Factsheet #56: Winter Triticale Forage.
- Agronomy Fact Sheet #88: Estimating Fall Nitrogen Uptake by Winter Cereals.
- Agronomy Fact Sheet #94: Forage Quality Parameters Explained.
Extension Articles
- Lyons, S.E., Q.M. Ketterings, G. Godwin, D.J. Cherney, J.H. Cherney, M.E. Van Amburgh, J.J. Meisinger, and T.F. Kilcer (2020). Best timing of harvest for brown midrib forage sorghum yield, nutritive value, and ration performance. What's Cropping Up? 20(4): x-xx.
- Lyons, S.E., Q.M. Ketterings, G. S. Godwin, D.J. Cherney, J.H. Cherney, M.E. Van Amburgh, J.J. Meisinger, and T.F. Kilcer (2020). Best timing of harvest for brown midrib forage sorghum yield, nutritive value, and ration performance. Progressive Dairy. PRO-DAIRY's The Manager.
- 3. Lyons, S.E, Q.M. Ketterings, G, Godwin, D.J. Cherney, J.H. Cherney, J.J. Meisinger and T.F. Kilcer (2019). Nitrogen Management of Brown Midrib Forage Sorghum in New York. What's Cropping Up? 29(1): x-xx.
- Lyons, S., Q. M. Ketterings, G. Godwin,, K.J. Czymmek, S.N. Swink and T. Kilcer (2018). Soil Nitrate at Harvest of Forage Winter Cereals is Related to Yield and Nitrogen Application at Green-up. What's Cropping Up?
- Lyons, S., Q. M. Ketterings, G. Godwin, J.H. Cherney, K.J. Czymmek, and T. Kilcer (2018). Spring N Management is Important for Triticale Forage Performance Regardless of Fall Management. What's Cropping Up?
- Lyons, S., Q.M. Ketterings, G. Godwin, J.H. Cherney, K.J. Czymmek, and T. Kilcer (2017). Planting date and N availability impact fall N uptake of triticale. What’s Cropping Up? 27(2): 20-22.
- Tang, Z, Q.M. Ketterings, K.J. Czymmek, S.N. Swink, and P. Cerosaletti (2016). Estimating Fall N Uptake by Winter Cereals Seeded as Cover or Double Crops after Corn Silage Harvest. What’s Cropping Up? 26(2): 20-22.
- Hanchar, J.J., Q.M. Ketterings, T. Kilcer, J. Miller, K. O'Neil, M. Hunter, B. Verbeten, S.N. Swink, and K.J. Czymmek (2015). Double cropping winter cereals for forage following corn silage: Costs of production and expected changes in profit for New York dairy farms. What's Cropping Up? 25(4): 39-41.
- Ketterings, Q.M., S. Ort, S.N. Swink, G. Godwin, T. Kilcer, J. Miller, B. Verbeten and K.J. Czymmek (2015). Winter cereals as double crops in corn rotations on New York dairy farms. What's Cropping Up? 25(3): 31-33.
- Ketterings, Q.M. (2015). Integrating cover crops for N management in corn systems on northeastern dairies. Crops and Soils 48: 4: 18-19. doi:10.2134/cs2015-48-4-6.
- Ort, S.B., Q.M. Ketterings, S.N. Swink, G. Godwin, S. Gami, and K. Czymmek (2014). Spring carbon and nitrogen pools of wheat and cereal rye following corn silage. What’s Cropping Up? 23(3): 3-4.
- Ort, S., Q.M. Ketterings and K.J. Czymmek (2014). Nitrogen rate studies of winter cereals. Eastern DairyBusiness. The Manager. 6(2): 19.
- Ort, S.B., Q.M. Ketterings, K.J. Czymmek, G.S. Godwin, S.N. Swink and S.K. Gami (2013). Carbon and nitrogen uptake of cereal cover crops following corn silage. What’s Cropping Up? 23(2): 5-6.
- Ketterings, Q.M., T. Kilcer, S. Ort and K.J. Czymmek (2013). Double cropping winter cereals yields triple bottom line. Eastern DairyBusiness; The Manager. 5(2): 15-16.
- Long, E., K. Van Slyke, Q. M. Ketterings, G. Godwin, and K.J. Czymmek (2013). Triticale as a cover and double crop on a New York dairy. 23(1): 3-5.
- Long, E., Q.M. Ketterings, and K.J. Czymmek (2012). Survey of Cover Crop Use on New York Dairy Farms. What’s Cropping Up? 22(4): 17-19.
- Kilcer, T., Ort, S., Q.M. Ketterings, and K.J. Czymmek (2012). Winter-Forage Small Grains to Boost Feed Supply: Not Just a Cover Crop Anymore! What’s Cropping Up? 22(4): 1-2.
Journal Articles
- Lyons, S.E., Q.M. Ketterings, G.S. Godwin, J.H. Cherney, D.J. Cherney, J.J. Meisinger, and T.F. Kilcer (2019). Double-cropping with forage sorghum and forage triticale in New York. Agronomy Journal 111: 3374-3382. doi:10.2134/agronj2019.05.0386.
- Lyons, S.E., Q.M. Ketterings, S. Ort, G.S. Godwin, S.N. Swink, K.J. Czymmek, D.J. Cherney, J.H. Cherney, J.J. Meisinger, and T.F. Kilcer (2019). Nitrogen management for forage winter cereals in the Northeastern USA. Soil Science Society of America Journal 83: 1111-1123. doi:10.2136/sssaj2019.01.0004.
- Lyons, S.E., Q.M. Ketterings, G.S. Godwin, D.J. Cherney, J.H. Cherney, M.E. Van Amburgh, J.J. Meisinger, and T.F. Kilcer (2019). Optimal harvest timing for brown midrib forage sorghum yield, nutritive value, and ration performance. Journal of Dairy Science 102: 7134-7149. doi: https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2019-16516.
- Lyons, S.E., Q.M. Ketterings, S. Ort, G.S. Godwin, S.N. Swink, K.J. Czymmek, D.J. Cherney, J.H. Cherney, J.J. Meisinger, and T.F. Kilcer (2019). Nitrogen management for forage winter cereals in the Northeastern USA. Soil Science Society of America Journal (in press).
- Lyons, S.E., Z. Tang, J. Booth, and Q.M. Ketterings (2018). Nitrogen response models for winter cereals grown for forage. Journal of Agronomy and Crop Science 1-14. doi:10.1111/jac.12310.
- Lyons, S.E., Q.M. Ketterings, G. Godwin, J.H. Cherney, K.J. Czymmek, and T. Kilcer (2018). Spring N management is important for triticale forage yield and quality. Agronomy Journal 110:1-8. doi:10.2134/agronj2018.01.0041.
- Lyons, S., Q.M. Ketterings, G. Godwin, J. Cherney, and T. Kilcer (2017). Fall planting date can impact establishment and nitrogen uptake of winter cereals. Agronomy Journal doi:10.2134/agronj2016.10.0620.
- Tagarakis, A.C., Q.M. Ketterings, S. Lyons, and G. Godwin (2017). Proximal sensing to estimate yield of brown midrib forage sorghum. Agronomy Journal 109:107-114. doi: 10.2134/agronj2016.07.0414.
- Ketterings Q.M., S.N. Swink, S.W. Duiker, K.J. Czymmek, D.B. Beegle, and W.J. Cox (2015). Review and interpretation: integrating cover crops for N management in corn systems on northeastern dairies. Agronomy Journal 107: 1365-1376. doi:10.2134/agronj14.0385.
- Ketterings, Q.M., S. Ort, S.N. Swink, G. Godwin, T. Kilcer, J. Miller, W. Verbeten, and K.J. Czymmek (2015). Winter cereals as double crops in corn rotations on New York dairy farms. Journal of Agricultural Science. DOI: 10.5539.
- Long, E., Q.M. Ketterings and K.J. Czymmek (2013). Survey of cover crop use on New York dairy farms. Crop Management, DOI:10.1094/CM-2013-0019-RS.