Browsing by Subject "perennial crops"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
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    Effects of Landscape Position on Perennial Biomass and Food Crop Performance in Buffer Areas
    (2024-02-19) Black, Katie, L.; Johnson, Gregg, A; Samantha, Wells, S.; Garcia y Garcia, Axel; Jungers, Jacob, M.; Jeffrey, Strock, S.; johns510@umn.edu; Johnson, Gregg
    Due to the environmental consequences of annual-dominated cropping systems, there is an increasing need to identify agronomic strategies which incorporate perennial crops. One strategy for increasing perennial cover is through the targeted use of annually-harvested perennial food and bioproducts crops in buffer strips, which has the potential to create new revenue streams for farmers and substantially mitigate agricultural nutrient pollution from conventional cropping systems. As buffers are typically installed on marginal land, it is critical to understand how landscape position influences the success of perennial crops. The objectives in this study were to determine the relatively early influence of landscape position on the productivity of a variety of perennial crops and their subsequent soil nutrients and soil water storing capabilities. In this experiment, nine perennial (alfalfa, alsike clover, indiangrass, switchgrass, big bluestem, prairie cordgrass, intermediate wheatgrass, high diversity polyculture, low diversity polyculture) and two annual (corn, soybean) crops were planted across two landscape positions (hillslope and deposition). Plant biomass, plant tissue nitrogen, soil moisture, and soil NO3-N and NH4-N were measured and compared at two different locations in Minnesota. Overall, the polyculture mixes, and to some extent intermediate wheatgrass, performed the best with respect to biomass production while also providing ecosystem services across most soil by landscape position combinations tested in this study. However, there were some important findings specific to each soil and landscape position combination, mainly oriented towards biomass production. We also observed temporal patterns in soil moisture and depth-related patterns in soil N reductions. This study presents an opportunity to optimize the use of perennial crops on marginal agricultural lands for improved environmental and economic benefit.
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    Strategies For Increasing Continuous Living Cover Adoption In Minnesota’s Corn-Soybean Systems
    (2022-04) Black, Katie
    Continuous living cover, such as cover crops and perennial crops, diversifies annual cropping systems and provides a myriad of environmental and economic benefits. However, adoption of continuous living cover by corn and soybean producers is low. Newly developed winter annual crops, perennial crops, and seeding technology may hold the key to increasing adoption of continuous living cover into annual systems; however, better understanding of the agronomic impacts of these tools is needed before they can be widely deployed onto the landscape. The purpose of this thesis is to clarify the effects of continuous living cover on corn and soybean systems in the Upper Midwest through 1) evaluating techniques that can optimize cover crop establishment into corn-soybean rotations and 2) understanding the tradeoffs of perennial crops in riparian buffers along corn and soybean fields in order to improve economic and environmental outcomes.