Land rolling does not influence productivity of subsequent year spring wheat

Authors: LENSSEN, ANDREW - Iowa State University; Sainju, Upendra

Submitted to: Crop, Forage & Turfgrass Management
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/5/2019
Publication Date: 10/10/2019
Citation: Lenssen, A.W., Sainju, U.M. 2019. Land rolling does not influence productivity of subsequent year spring wheat. Crop, Forage & Turfgrass Management. 5:190024. https://doi.org/10.2134/cftm2019.04.0024.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2134/cftm2019.04.0024

Interpretive Summary: Land rolling is practiced in areas with enough gravels and stones to bury them in the soil so that the equipment used for farm operations are not damaged. ARS scientist in Sidney, MT in collaboration with Iowa State University reported that land rolling had no effect on weed density, spring wheat yield, grain protein concentration, water use, or water productivity of spring wheat compared to no land rolling. Producers can use land roller to bury gravels and rocks without affecting spring wheat yield and quality.

Technical Abstract: Land rolling has become a common practice in the northern Great Plains and upper Midwest after planting annual grain legumes and forage crops despite the potential to increase weed density and decrease crop yield. Field trials were conducted in 2005 and 2006 to determine if land rolling influenced weed density or productivity of spring wheat planted following summer fallow or two crops planted in the previous season, pea and barley. Density of green foxtail and total weeds in spring wheat was influenced by year, planting date, and crop grown in the previous year, but land rolling had no influence on weed density. Yield of spring wheat was greater following summer fallow than following pea and barley, likely due to 0.9 inches greater available soil water at planting and 1.0 inch greater water use. Land rolling × previous crop interaction affected preplant soil water content, with rolled fallow having 1.1 and 1.6 inches greater water content (0- to 4-ft depth) than rolled barley or pea, respectively; soil water content at planting did not vary for previous crop where no-land rolling occurred. Spring wheat water productivity was 0.15 lb/acre-inch greater when the previous year’s crops were planted at the early date than when planting was delayed. Land rolling in the previous year did not influence weed density, grain yield, protein concentration, water use or water productivity of spring wheat.