Wheat, Peanut and Other Field Crops Research : Growers

Recently, Nebraska grower and AWPM for Wheat cooperator Alton Lerwick received the Master Conservationist Award from the Omaha World-Herald and the University of Nebraska for his conservation efforts. Alton spoke with Dave Christians about his management practices. They included crop rotation, no-till practices and the RWA biotype 2.

Crop Rotation and No-Till

Alton Lerwick and his sons Dean and Grant run an 1800-acre farm and a cow-calf operation in western Nebraska using continuous cropping, no-till, and rotational grazing practices.

Alton was raised on the farm that his father purchased after WWII in western Scotts Bluff and Banner Counties of the Nebraska panhandle. After earning degrees in agronomy and range ecology from the University of Nebraska and Colorado State University respectively, he came home in 1974 to a wheat-fallow operation on the family farm. Over the years, he did some experimentation on different rotational systems and reducing tillage operations in moving toward no-till. He went to a 3-year rotation of wheat-millet-fallow, but no-till fallow was not practical because of the price of herbicides. In 1997 he eliminated fallow and converted to a continuous crop no till system, and has used that system ever since. There is always a good amount of fine tuning involved..

The Lerwick operation uses continuous cropping without the traditional fallow year which is common in the area. However, Lerwick points out that he didn’t eliminate fallow, just the most inefficient fallow period-that through the summer. For example, from wheat harvest in July until sunflower planting the following June is a 10- to 11-month fallow period prior to planting sunflowers. In a four year period of a wheat-sunflowers-millet-oats rotation there are as many months of fallow as in a traditional wheat fallow system..

“Planting sunflowers into wheat stubble seems to work the best, because sunflowers without stubble ground cover won’t hold the light ground.” The sunflowers will then be followed by millet the next crop year, leaving an October-June fallow period. .

“Millet does not root deeply, so it isn’t affected by the lack of the deep moisture that the sunflowers have removed. The key is to stay flexible.” Lerwick explained a second year of wheat helps maintain residue in drought years. A flexible rotation also helps deal with weed problems. If there is a problem with warm season grasses in the fourth year of the rotation, oats or wheat is planted next. If cool season grasses are a problem, millet is planted next. Sunflowers are always planted into the heaviest residue, which is wheat, because it holds the ground and conserves moisture..

Several principles are important when setting up a continuous cropping system. No-till for moisture conservation, the proper crop sequence-taking into account crop synergism, adequate fertilizer and proper placement, and good weed control are key principles. Climatic data has been carefully recorded and tracked for the farm area. “A significant portion of our moisture comes in a few large storms. It’s important to use a system that can trap that moisture,” he said. Standing residue is important for trapping snow, and surface residue cover is important for controlling runoff..

RWA Biotype 2

“It’s been an experiment, so there have been problems. We’ve constantly adjusted. It’s been difficult to get consistent sunflower stands," he said. One cause is rodent damage. Without tillage their burrows are never destroyed. Although not a problem since the early 1990’s, Russian wheat aphids in the biotype 2 form made a reappearance on one late planted field in 2002-2003. Other fields that were planted earlier were not affected. The field was planted late because the millet in front of it in the rotation came out late. Rotational adjustments and flexibility usually take care of this problem, as oats or millet are substituted next in the rotation if the wheat will go in too late in the season. There has been far less damage from sawflies in no-till wheat fields. Possible explanations may be the rotation disrupting the insects’ life cycle, or fewer field edges in no-till fields.

The whole system has suffered during the drought in the last five years. The rodent problem has increased, as rodents moved in from the dry pastures. Maintaining residue cover, weed control, and chemical efficacy have all been negatively affected.

“We’ve had inadequate residue cover during the drought and have experienced some crop failures. It’s hard to grow a wheat crop when you get less than six inches of effective precipitation from planting to harvest," he said. “You’ll be convinced when there is a downpour that runs off of your neighbor’s conventional fields, but not off of yours.”

Conservation

He is a cooperating grower in the Areawide Pest Management for Wheat program, and was awarded the Master Conservationist Award on Sept. 27th. The Omaha World-Herald and the University of Nebraska sponsored the award, and the Lerwick operation is one of eight in the state honored for conservation efforts. Lerwick said that he parked his blade plows after such a downpour and never used them again. He says that a conservationist’s attitude is important, and sometimes we need to change our way of looking at things.

Wildlife numbers have increased in the no-till fields, and have also benefited from the planting of shelter belts. Hunters seek out no-till fields because game birds are drawn there for food, shelter, and nesting. Deer are drawn to sunflowers and shelter belts.

When asked about how research such as sponsoring variety, demonstration, or entomological sampling plots has helped his operation, Alton said the research was helpful.

“UNL research has helped our operation directly with plant breeding, entomology sampling, alternative crop research, and research on other things that have fit into our program. Information from your own farm is more applicable than that done a 100 miles away," he said.