On-farm studies provide information that producers use to reduce the economic risks associated with new products, test the efficiency of components within their current operation, and test innovative new ideas and concepts. In the project, a producer chooses his/her treatments based on their interest or desire prior to implementation. SDSU agronomists assist in experimental design, treatment application, scouting, and analysis. At the completion of the project, reports are distributed to the farmer collaborator and they are posted SD Soybean Research and Promotion on-farm web site. Farmers use results from the study to identify treatments that might be success on their farm and reduce the economic risks associated with new products. To date, over 400 experiments have been conducted by SD farmers.
Producing a profit in a highly variable environment requires the development of adaptable systems that links advances in crop genetics with an improved understanding of ecosystem functioning and soil health. The proposed project builds the infrastructure where locally-led production and management questions are identified and tested. The activities for the upcoming year include:
1) Continue the on-farm research program in 2020;
a. Farmers last year were very interested in using UAV as a scouting tool and approximately 30 experiments were conducted. We anticipate that this interest will continue in 2020. Other studies that most likely will continue are the use of new products, treatment of soybeans with rhizobia at V2 to V4, seeding rates, and fertilizer applications.
b. Other projects that received a lot of interest included fungicide treatment and new product testing,
c. Marketing new products, collect samples from on-farm studies and analyze them oil and protein content.
i. Different products have requirements. We will start testing of soybeans from on-farm studies for new opportunities.
2) Continue research designed to determine the importance of soil health in optimizing soybean yields (partially funded by NRCS and NREC);
3) Continue on-farm research designed to assess the impact increasing salt concentration and drainage on yields (partially funded by USDA-AFRI and NRCS); and
4) Deliver information to producers through Soy100, AgOutlook, SD on-farm web-site, news releases, radio interviews, and SDSU websites.
a. In addition, SDSU seniors are using the on-farm studies for their final project in the Agronomy Capstone class (PS475). The goal of this class is to help students match solutions to problems and create locally based, flexible, high profit roadmaps, which will be validated in research conducted in producer’s fields when appropriate.
Brief description and justification:
Due to SD environmental conditions, the on-farm studies are producing findings that producers need to optimize their production practices. In prior years, on-farm studies evaluated many topics including cover crops, late season N, fungicide seed treatments, seeding rates, soybean growth promoters, micronutrients, techniques to reduce the impact of salts on soybean growth, prevent plant, and the use of UAV’s to identify diseases and yield limiting factors. Findings from of experiments conducted prior to 2020 are available at the South Dakota Soybean Research and Promotion on-farm website. The project will help SD soybean producers enhance profitability by conducting targeted research, working one-on-one with farmers conducting on-farm research projects, and sharing the research findings with the producer and scientific communities. In addition, in 2020 we will collect soybean samples and analyze them for protein and oil content. This information will provide information on the ability of SD soybean production to meet new markets in fish food production.
A project goal is help individual farmers optimize their management for soybean production. This will be achieved by assisting farmers in on-farm research and by conducting targeted research on focused questions. Several of these topic are discussed below. To produce meaningful results, an agronomist inspects all experiments during the summer. Typically, the agronomist measures plant populations and conducts visual inspection of the experiment. Based on the findings, this information is shared with the producer. At the completion of the growing season, SDSU prepares a yield difference map, statistically analyzes the data, and prepares a report for distribution to the collaborator and the findings are posted on the on-farm web-page.
Creating a searchable on-farm data base
During the 2016-2017 growing season, an on-farm web-page was prepared. Over the last several years, over 300 studies have been loaded. Our team is striving to load these reports into the site as quickly as possible. Using key words or locations, this database can be searched. In addition, to being used for local decisions, this data base is being used to train the next generation of agronomists. In SDSU Capstone class, PS475 students are required to conduct a special problem. This year, we are testing the use of the soybean on-farm studies for these problems. Graduating seniors are working with SDSU staff and the farmers associated with these projects.
Farmers this last year were very interested in using UAV as a scouting tool and approximately 30 experiments were conducted. We anticipate that this interest will continue in 2020. Other studies that most likely will continue are the use of new products, treatment of soybeans with rhizobia at V2 to V4, seeding rates, and fertilizer applications and assessment of soybean quality for new products
Building a data base on soybean and soil health
Over the next year, this project will collaborate with projects partially funded by NRCS and SD-NREC. One such effort is soil health research. The projects funded by NRCS and SD-NREC are focused on corn we will expand this work to soybeans. Over the next year we will work with farmers who want to explore the relationships between soil microbial community structure and soybean yields. For example, planting cover crops in north central South Dakota changes the microbial community structure, which may increase nutrient efficiency. What we do not know is how to intergrate this information into our decision process. This next year, we will continue to build this database. Prior research showed that the soil microbial composition can be altered by management. For example, planting a fall cover crop that contained plants from the mustard family (Brassicacea) increased the relative amount of bacteria in the soil. This change is important because this may lead to faster decomposition and recycling of the nutrients contained within the plant residues. This component will provide information on the bacterial and fungal components of the soil biota, as influenced by the on-farm treatment. By compiling data from across the on-farm study sites the importance of the soil biology on soybean productivity will be determined.
Building a data base on soybean production and salinity
A second project that is partially funded by NRCS. This NRCS project is focused on returning salt effected soils to perennial grassland. This project will expand this discussion to investigate the use of tile drainage to reduce salinity problems. Over the next year we will work with SD farmers who are concerned about the growing salinity problem on their fields. Salinity problems are increasing in the state. This problem is driven by rising water tables, which provides an opportunity for sodium and other salts to be transported to the soil surface. We estimated that EC increased 1 dS m-1 on over 1 million acres from 2008 to 2012. This increase represents over 13% of the cropped land in the state. The greatest impacts of increasing salt concentrations are located in the northern, central, and western regions of the state. The most common approaches for reducing high salt concentrations is to install tile drainage. To conduct an economic analysis on the value of tile drainage as a remediation strategy, this yield reduction or improvement needs to be confirmed. As of October 2017, 16 on-farm experiments have been initiated. This research will be continued in 2020.
Brief description of deliverables and timelines
This project is designed to provide information that farmers can use to reduce their costs and improve their profitability. Farmers volunteer for projects during the winter and implement the projects during the spring and summer. Findings from these studies are determined, shared with the collaborating farmer, and loaded onto the web page that was created in 2016, as quickly as possible. Producers searching the database, use it to improve their efficiency and profitability. In addition, this database is used to train the next generation of agronomists. These future agronomists are trained in the SDSU Capstone class, PS475 where they use the posted experiments to create economic and environmentally sustainable management plans. This year, we will prepare hard copy of reports that will be available at SD Soybeans Research and Promotion headquarters and other farmer events.