High Residue No-till for Soil Moisture Conservation and Canola Establishment.

Current research at the Ralston Project (11 inch rainfall zone) is evaluating the use of tall cereal varieties for maximum biomass production, and harvest with a stripper header to create tall standing stubble, which is maintained during chemical fallow. When compared to cereal crops harvested with a conventional header, the high-residue fallow resulting from stripper header harvest influenced the microclimate at the soil surface by reducing soil temperatures and wind speeds, which resulted in increased seed-zone moisture retention. Maintenance of adequate seed-zone moisture with high surface residues may enable growers to plant winter canola at a convenient late summer planting date, rather than having to rely on early fall rains and/or cool postplant temperatures. More uniform soil moisture in chemical fallow appears to improve canola stand establishment compared to tilled fallow. We established a uniform stand of no-till winter canola on 28 July 2013 in stripper header wheat and triticale stubble compared to conventionally planted winter canola into traditional summer fallow. Plants were in the large rosette stage (complete canopy cover, 16’’ row spacing) in the fall. Plants survived cold temperatures in December 2013; however, in February 2014 ambient air temperature reached -7 F, and with no snow cover to protect the plants, the winter canola planted in this trial did not survive. The plots have been replanted with spring barley, and will be harvested with the stripper header. This will provide another year of microclimate monitoring in stripper header stubble, and show if there is a difference in effect between high residue winter crops and lower residue spring crops.