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ARS Home » Plains Area » Fort Collins, Colorado » Center for Agricultural Resources Research » Soil Management and Sugarbeet Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #392007
Research Project: Development of Sugar Beet Germplasm Enhanced for Resistance to Important and Emerging Plant Pathogens

Location: Soil Management and Sugarbeet Research

Title: Potential to use narrow rows and plant populations to maximize harvested grain or silage production while increasing irrigated water and nitrogen use efficiencies in irrigated systems

Author
item Delgado, Jorge
item Floyd, Bradley
item Brandt, Amber
item D Adamo, Robert

Submitted to: Soil and Water Conservation Society International Annual Conference
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/31/2022
Publication Date: 7/31/2022
Citation: Delgado, J.A., Floyd, B.A., Brandt, A.D., D'Adamo, R.E. 2022. Potential to use narrow rows and plant populations to maximize harvested grain or silage production while increasing irrigated water and nitrogen use efficiencies in irrigated systems. In: Elevating Conservation to New Heights Abstract Book. 77th SWCS International Annual Conference, July 31-August 3, 2022, Denver, Colorado. p. 157.

Interpretive Summary: No Interpretive Summary is required for this Abstract Only. JLB.

Technical Abstract: We conducted studies from 2018 to 2021 about the potential to use narrow rows to increase silage or harvested grain yields in a Fort Collins clay loam soil at the Colorado State University-Agricultural Research, Development and Education Center (ARDEC) near Fort Collins, Colorado. We calculated water use efficiencies by dividing silage or harvested grain by the sum of the applied irrigation and precipitation during the growing season. We found increases in silage and/or harvested grain with narrow rows in all our studies. For plots receiving nitrogen fertilizer at a rate of 202 kg N/ha, planting in narrow (15-inch) rows with the same plant population as the 30-inch rows (study 1) increased grain production by 18.9 bushels per acre. When the seed population was doubled (three studies), the N-fertilized narrow row plots increased silage production by an average of 4 tons per acre (dry weight) and 14.5 bushels per acre compared to the N-fertilized plots with 30-inch (conventional) row spacing. When the N-fertilized narrow rows had a 36% higher seed population than the N-fertilized 30-inch rows (two studies), harvested grain increased by 43.4 bushels per acre and silage (dry weight) increased by 3 tons per acre. When the cost of seed is accounted for, narrow rows significantly increased economic returns, and on average increased silage and/or harvested grain produced per unit of water input compared to the 30-inch rows. Planting in narrow rows could potentially reduce erosion and conserve soil and water quality for sprinkler-irrigated systems in the western USA.