Varietal differences in straw decomposition
Farm and Ranch July 21, 2011 No-tillers or minimum till farmers in high production areas might want a wheat that has straw that decomposes quickly making it easier to seed through the residue. The opposite may be case for producers in lower rainfall, lower production zones where a slower decomposing straw would keep residue around longer to help prevent erosion, particularly in a more conventional tillage system. At Washington State University Tami Stubbs has been studying straw decomposition to see if there are varietal differences and she says there are. Stubbs: “Through our analysis in the lab and also in the field, we have been able to determine that yes, cultivars do break down differently. They are statistically significant and it helps to quantify what growers were seeing on their own farms. Our goal for this research, residue decomposition is certainly not going to be the determining factor in deciding what variety they are going to plant, but we do hope to give them a little added information that they might be able to use. Our goal is to eventually be able to use this information, add it to the variety testing information or possibly even publish it with the Seed Buyers Guide.” Examples of rapid decomposing varieties are Eltan and Xerpha. Varieties with slower decomposition are MDM, Bruehl, Cara, Chuckar and Madsen. I’m Bob Hoff and that’s the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on Northwest Aginfo Net. ?
