Location: Soil Management Research
2020 Annual Report
Objectives
Our long-term goal of this project is to develop new oilseed crops (e.g., cuphea, calendula, and camelina) and innovative crop management and weed control strategies that reduce and/or efficiently use costly agricultural inputs. Ultimately, the integration of these new crops, new knowledge and management strategies will provide producers with economically and environmentally-sustainable cropping systems. Over the next five years our research will focus on the following objectives: Objective 1: Identify and develop new crops and innovative management strategies to efficiently utilize agricultural inputs, improve cropping efficiency and productivity, as well as enhance various ecosystem components in short-season high stress environments. Sub-objective 1A. Identify species and varieties of new and alternative oilseed crops that show the best agronomic potential for biofuel/bioproduct feedstock production. Sub-objective 1B. Develop new methods and improve existing strategies to integrate and manage new, alternative, and traditional crops to produce food, feed, fuel, and bioproducts. Sub-objective 1C. Develop diversified crop sequences that are economically sustainable using new and traditional crops with the aim of improving health and abundance of pollinators and other beneficial insects. Objective 2: Develop novel and innovative weed control strategies, evaluate their effectiveness (primarily in short-season, high-stress environments), and integrate into cropping strategies. Sub-objective 2A. Optimize entirely new techniques for controlling weeds that are appropriate for row crops in the NCB and elsewhere. Sub-objective 2B. Integrate new and existing tactics with weed biology into sustainable management systems.
Approach
Our goal is to develop new oilseed crops and innovative crop and weed management strategies that diversify and improve the efficiency of cropping systems and reduce costly agricultural inputs while adding new economic and environmental benefits. Two mutually supporting approaches will be taken to accomplish this goal. The first employs a series of experiments to identify new oilseed crop genotypes for biofuels/bioproducts feedstock best suited for the northern Corn Belt, develop best management practices for their production, and develop strategies to integrate them with traditional crops into modified systems. The second involves developing new weed control strategies and increased knowledge of microclimate interactions with weed biology to design and optimize weed management protocols to deploy in new cropping systems that include new, alternative and traditional crops. Together, the outcomes of this research will enhance land-use efficiency and provide new economic opportunities and new ecosystem benefits, such as nutritional resources that promote healthy pollinator populations.
Progress Report
This project has expired. Several important accomplishments were made over the life of this project and our new 5-year Project Plan extends some of this work.
During the life of this project, new annual winter oilseed crops, winter camelina and field pennycress were identified and used in concert with traditional crops to form "new" cropping systems that diversify agriculture in the Upper Midwest. We demonstrated that these winter oilseeds could be used in double-cropping systems with soybean to produce two crops on the same land area in a single season. Further, it was demonstrated that these new cropping systems and practices create new economic opportunities for farmers and rural communities while also benefiting the environment through the ecosystem services they provide.
One of these ecosystem services that was well documented during this project is the attractiveness and nutritional benefit to pollinators that many of the new and alternative oilseeds that we research have when they are flowering. Not only are many pollinating insect species attracted to these oilseeds, but the pollen and nectar produced by their flowers provide and abundant food source for bees and other pollinators at critical times of the year. Furthermore, we were the first to show that winter camelina and pennycress are efficient scavengers of excess soil nitrogen left behind by previous crops. This scavenging reduces the amount of unwanted loss of nitrogen into ground and surface waters and hence, helps improve water quality.
Another significant discovery from this project was the development of the concept of using air-propelled organic grits as a non-chemical alternative to killing and controlling weeds in organic row-crop systems. Furthermore, the concept was brought to fruition by building and field-testing large-scale equipment that employed the air-propelled grit concept for abrading and killing weeds. This organic weed control strategy was found to be especially economical for managing weeds in high-value vegetable and horticultural crops.
Accomplishments
1. Interseeding cover crops into corn and soybean. Corn and soybean are the most popular crops in the Midwest. However, because they are harvested so late, it is often not possible to directly plant cover crops afterwards. This calls for alternative strategies to establish covers in corn and soybean, such as seeding into standing crops. ARS researchers in Morris, Minnesota, led a large multidisciplinary team across the upper Midwest to demonstrate that establishment of interseeded cover crops worked better in soybean than corn. Moreover, interseeded winter rye generally, but not always, resulted in better establishment, survival, and productivity than interseeded winter oilseeds (camelina and pennycress). This information will help corn and soybean farmers interested in using cover crops to choose the best cover and seeding practice that works for their region. It will also direct researchers to develop better methods for establishing winter oilseeds, especially where corn is involved.
2. Field pennycress: it’s not just a weed anymore. ARS researchers in Morris, Minnesota, in collaboration with researchers from the University of Minnesota, the University of Bologna, Italy, and other ARS Units demonstrated that the ubiquitously common weed pennycress can be produced as a winter annual "cash" cover crop. Industry partners are interested in pennycress seed oil as a low-cost feedstock for advanced biofuels and bioproduct. The research team developed best management practices for producing pennycress while double-cropping it with short-season summer crops like soybean and edible beans. Pennycress as an over-wintering cover crop can prevent soil erosion and improve water quality by scavenging excess nitrogen remaining after the previous crop. Results benefit farmers, agronomists, extension educators, and the specialty oilseed industry.
3. Winter camelina is highly adaptable. ARS researchers in Morris, Minnesota, in collaboration with scientists from the University of Bologna, Italy, demonstrated that winter camelina adapts and grows well over a wide range of climate and soil types. Because of a longer vegetative season under a Mediterranean climate, winter camelina formed a deeper and more robust root system than it does when it is grown in a cold, temperate climate, which translates to greater productivity and seed and oil yields. Results give scientists a better understanding of camelina’s growth response and yield potential under different climate and soil types and will help farmers, crop consultants, and specialty oilseed industry to target the best suited environments/regions to produce winter camelina.
Review Publications
Jaradat, A.A. 2020. Comparative assessment of einkorn and emmer wheat phenomes: II. Phenotypic integration. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution. 67(3):655-684. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10722-019-00840-3.
Mohammed, Y.A., Matthees, H.L., Gesch, R.W., Patel, S., Forcella, F., Aasand, K., Steffl, N., Johnson, B., Wells, M.S., Lenssen, A. 2020. Establishing winter annual cover crops by interseeding into maize and soybean. Agronomy Journal. 112:719-732. https://doi.org/10.1002/agj2.20062.
Zanetti, F., Gesch, R.W., Walia, M.K., Johnson, J.M., Monti, A. 2020. Winter camelina root characteristics and yield performance under contrasting environmental conditions. Field Crops Research. 252(1):107794. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2020.107794.
Cubins, J.A., Wells, M.S., Frels, K., Ott, M.A., Forcella, F., Johnson, G.A., Walia, M.K., Becker, R.L., Gesch, R.W. 2019. Management of pennycress as a winter annual cash cover crop. A review. Agronomy for Sustainable Development. 39:46. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13593-019-0592-0.
Zanetti, F., Isbell, T.A., Gesch, R.W., Evangelista, R.L., Alexopoulou, E., Moser, B.R., Monti, A. 2019. Turning a burden into an opportunity: Pennycress (Thlaspi arvense L.) a new oilseed crop for biofuel production. Biomass and Bioenergy. 130:105354. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2019.105354.
Jaradat, A.A. 2019. Comparative assessment of einkorn and emmer wheat phenomes: III. Phenology. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution. 66:1727-1760. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10722-019-00816-3.
