Location: Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research
Project Number: 2054-12000-011-010-T
Project Type: Trust Fund Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Jan 1, 2017
End Date: Dec 31, 2020
Objective:
Objective 1: Determine the effects of various beet lime application rates on sugar beet yield and quality.
Objective 2: Determine the effects of various beet lime application rates on other crops in a sugar beet rotation (dry beans and small grain).
Objective 3: Determine the effects of various beet lime application rates on soil chemical and physical properties.
Approach:
This project will take place from 2017 to 2020 on a Portneuf Silt Loam soil at the USDA-ARS Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory in Kimberly, Idaho. The study consists of three crop blocks that will grow sugar beet, bean, or barley in a given year. Within the crop block component, each crop will be grown each year. Lime rates of 3 tons dry lime/acre/year, 10 tons dry lime/acre/year, and 40 tons dry lime/acre (one time application) will be applied the fall prior to sugar beet cropping in each crop block. By the conclusion of the study each crop block will receive a total of 12 tons dry lime/acre (3 ton/acre treatment), 40 tons dry lime/acre (10 tons/acre/year) and 40 tons dry lime/acre (one time application), and each crop block will have two complete growing seasons for each crop. In the fall and spring of each year, soil samples will be collected from each plot and analyzed for various soil chemical properties. Yields and quality factors will be measured for each crop.
