Dorivar A. Ruiz Diaz

Corn Response as Affected by Planting Distance from the Center of Strip-Till Fertilized Rows

Strip-till has been used at a large scale in east central Kansas as an alternative to earlier planting dates under a no-till system. To determine the effects of planting corn (Zea mays) under previously established strip-tilled fertilized rows, experiments were conducted on an Osage silty clay loam soil in 2006 and 2008 and on a Woodson silt loam soil in 2009, 2010, and 2011 using three different planting distances from the strip-tilled fertilized rows (0, 10, 20, and 38 cm) with a strip-till operation performed between 1 and 73 days before planting. The depth of the strip-till fertilizer application was 13–15 cm below the soil surface. Corn that was planted 10 cm from the fertilized row showed greater early season growth, higher plant population, and grain yield. Planting 20 and 38 cm from the center of the fertilized rows showed none of the benefits that are typically associated with strip-tillage system. Enough time should be allowed between the strip-till operation and planting to reach satisfactory soil conditions (e.g., moist and firm seedbed). Our results suggest that the best location for planting strip-tilled fertilized corn vary depending on soil and climatic conditions as well as the time between fertilizer application with the strip-till operation and planting. With fewer number of days, planting directly on the center of fertilized strip-till resulted in decreased plant population and lower grain yield. However, the greatest yield benefit across different planting conditions was attained when planting within 10 cm of the strip.

Using Ground Eggshells as a Liming Material in Corn and Soybean Production

Eggshells are a byproduct from egg breaking facilities and potentially useful as an amendment for liming soils. Ground eggshells were evaluated as a liming material at two sites in Iowa with acidic surface soil. The study compared soil pH response and corn (Zea mays L.) and soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] grain yield with multiple rates of agricultural lime (aglime) and ground eggshells (eggshells). Eggshells proved to be an effective liming material and land application for soil pH correction offers a practical use of eggshells. However, the reported effective calcium carbonate equivalent (ECCE) value for the ground eggshells was low as soil pH increase was greater than found with equivalent ECCE rates from aglime. Based on the soil pH responses in this study, it is suggested that ground eggshell ECCE values should be increased 2 to 3 times from reported values. That correction should help avoid over-application and unintended high soil pH levels.

Kansas Fertilizer Research 2012

Report of research on crop fertilization at Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station sites.

Assessing the Residual from Fertilizer Nitrogen Applied to Failed Corn on the Following Wheat Crop

In much of the Midwest in 2012, extreme hot and dry conditions reduced crop yields, especially corn (Zea mays L.) (USDA-NAAS, 2013). Drought-induced, low-yielding conditions likely resulted in low nitrogen uptake by the crops and the potential for unused fertilizer N left in the soil. However, the potential carryover of unused N fertilizer is uncertain because of the dynamics of N cycling. In 2012, a study was initiated to determine the effect of N rates and nitrification inhibitors on no-till short-season corn. The study was conducted at the Kansas State University Southeast Agricultural Research Center on a Parsons silt loam, a typical claypan soil of the area. The experimental design was a split-plot arrangement of a randomized complete block with four replications with N rates as the whole plots and nitrification inhibitors as the subplots, plus an untreated control. All N was subsurface banded (knifed) as urea-ammonium nitrate (28% N) at a 4-inch depth on 10 Apr. 2012 at rates of 60, 120, 180, and 240 lb/acre. In addition, the knife blades without fertilizer were passed through the no-N control plots. The nitrification inhibitors were (i) none, (ii) Instinct at 35 oz/acre, (iii) Koch experimental at 128 oz/acre, and (iv) Koch experimental at 256 oz/acre. Partially because of replanting in early May, corn growth before silking and during much of the reproductive growth fell in a period from 22 June to 4 Aug. 2012 with total rainfall of 0.75 inches and average maximum air temperature of 99.4°F which is less than 20% of the rain and approximately 10°F hotter than the 30-year average. These conditions resulted in corn yields less than 27 bu/acre with no response to nitrification inhibitors and a slight decline in yields as N rate increased (data not shown). A typical rotation of the area is to follow corn with winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Since the 2012 experiment would not be repeated, the corn crop was followed with a hard red winter wheat cultivar, ‘Everest’ drilled on 12 Oct. 2012 with no added fertilizer and no tillage. To study the residual effect of the N treatments, the same plots with the same experimental Published in Crop Management DOI 10.2134/CM-2014-0005-BR

Kansas fertilizer research 2009

This report is brought to you for free and open access by New Prairie Press. It has been accepted for inclusion in Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports by an authorized administrator of New Prairie Press. Copyright 2010 Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service.

Driving factors of soil carbon accumulation in Oxisols in long-term no-till systems of South Brazil

In a climate change scenario, it is important to understand the factors that lead to changes in a soil carbon (C) sink. It is recognized that such process is highly dependent on climate, soil properties, topography, and vegetation. However, few studies demonstrate how these mechanisms operate in highly weathered Oxisols. Therefore, this study evaluated the driving factors for C recovery and accumulation and its relations with fertility attributes in the soil profile (0 to 1m depth) in no-till (NT) croplands of south Brazil. The adoption of NT in the studied fields started between 1978 (pioneer areas) and 1990 and represent a range of textural and mineralogical characteristics South Brazil main croplands. Soil samples were collected in paired fields of native vegetation and NT (NV vs. long-term NT) to a depth of 1m. The studied NT areas of Rio Grande do Sul State were managed according to the principles of conservation agriculture (minimum soil disturbance, permanent soil cover and diverse crop rotation). The processes that drove SOC recovery in the studied sites were soil fertility management allied with high C input through intense crop rotation. The C recovery was were for areas with the predominance of soybean in the cropping system, higher levels of Al3+ and lower levels of Mg2+ and P. Sites with medium/high cropping intensity, lower levels of Al3+ and higher levels of P, Ca2+, Mg2+, and K+ resulted in higher C recovery.

Kansas Fertilizer Research 2013

Report on agricultural research with fertilizers at Kansas State University.

Kansas fertilizer research 2011

Report on agricultural research with fertilizers at Kansas State University.