Although integrated crop-livestock systems have been employed globally for millennia, in the past century, farmers in North America have tended toward increased specialization. There is renewed interest in reintegrating crops and livestock because of concerns about natural resource degradation, the profitability and stability of farm income, long-term sustainability, and increasing regulation of concentrated animal feeding operations. Integrated crop-livestock systems could foster diverse cropping systems, including the use of perennial and legume forages, which could be grown in selected areas of the landscape to achieve multiple environmental benefits. Integrated systems inherently would utilize animal manure, which enhances soil tilth, fertility, and C sequestration. Integration of crops and livestock could occur within a farm or among farms. Both scales of integration rely on farmers' knowledge, motivation, and resources. Despite the numerous benefits that could accrue if farms moved toward on-farm or amongfarm integration of crops and livestock, the complexity of such systems could constrain adoption. However, farmers should expect that adoption of integrated crop-livestock systems would enhance both profitability and environmental sustainability of their farms and communities. The combination of system complexity and potential for public benefit justify the establishment of a new national or international research initiative to overcome constraints and move North American agriculture toward greater profitability and sustainability.

Response of three Brassica species to high temperature stress during reproductive growth. Can. J. Plant Sci. 80: 693-701. The effect of short periods of high temperature stress on the reproductive development and yield of three Brassica species were studied in a growth chamber experiment conducted for 2 yr. Two genotypes from Brassica juncea L. and one each from B. napus L. and B. rapa L. were grown under day/night temperatures of 20/15°C till early flowering or early pod development, subjected to high temperature stress of 28/15°C or 35/15°C for 7 d and then allowed to recover at 20/15°C. Species differed in optimum temperatures, with B. juncea and B. rapa having higher optimum temperature than B. napus. Dry matter was unaffected by moderate temperature stress, while it was reduced by high temperature stress. The 35/15°C treatment was injurious to reproductive organs at different developmental stages of all three species. High temperatures at flowering affected yield formation more than high temperature at pod development. On the main stem, mean seed yield reduction due to heat stress was 89%, but partial compensation by pods on the branches reduced mean per-plant seed yield decrease to 52%. Reduction in fertile pods (not total pod number), thousand seed weight and seeds per pod were responsible for the reduced seed yield. Brassica rapa was more sensitive to heat stress than B. napus and B. juncea. Although observation did not indicate the exact developmental phase when the reproductive organs were susceptible to heat stress, pods that passed a critical threshold developmental phase tolerated heat stress, which explained the smaller effect of high temperature stress at pod development. A direct temperature effect on reproductive organs appeared to be responsible for the reduction in yield. All genotypes began to recover from the stress by continuing flowering after returning to 20/15°C. Brassica napus was least able to recover from severe stress at flowering, as evidenced by the formation of many abnormal pods during recovery. Per-plant yield response of canola-quality B. juncea line J90-4316 was similar to oriental mustard Cutlass. Thus, heat stress effect depends on the growth stage of canola and mustard and Brassica species differ in heat stress response. napus. La production de matière sèche ne souffrait pas d'un stress thermique modéré (28°C), mais elle était réduite en présence d'un stress élevé (35°C). Chez les 3 espèces, le régime 35°/15°C avait des effets néfastes sur les organes de reproduction à divers stades de leur formation. Des hautes températures à la floraison nuisaient davantage au rendement que quand elles survenaient lors de la formation des siliques. Sur la tige principale, la diminution moyenne de rendement grainier résultant d'un stress thermique était de 89 %, mais pour l'ensemble de la plante, elle n'était que de 52 %, grâce à une compensation partielle opérée par les ramifications. Le manque à produire résultait de la diminution du nombre de siliques fertiles (pas du nombre total de si...

Cultivated forage crops are grown on almost 12 million ha on the northern Great Plains. This paper reviews the benefits of diversifying annual crop rotations with forage crops and highlights innovations in forage systems. Agronomic benefits of rotating forage crops with annual grain crops include higher grain crop yields following forages (up to 13 yr in one study), shifts in the weed population away from arable crop weeds, and improved soil quality. Perennial legumes in rotation also reduce energy requirements by adding significant amounts of N to the soil. Soil water availability may limit the extent to which forages benefit following crops. Under semiarid conditions, forages can actually reduce yields of the following crops, and as such, tillage practices that conserve soil water have been developed to partially address this problem. Forages in rotation provide environmental benefits, such as C sequestration, critical habitat for wildlife, and reduced NO3 leaching. A wider range of annual plant species are now used in forage systems in an effort to extend the grazing season and to maximize use of water resources. Intensive pasture management using cultivated forages is on the increase as is the use of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) in grazing systems; in some cases, bloat‐reduced alfalfa cultivars are used. Pasture‐based systems appear to provide benefits for both animal and human health and arguably the health of the environment. Pasture systems are less nutrient exhausting than hay systems. As a result, nutrient management strategies will differ in the following crop. Additional research is required to optimize the role of cultivated pastures in grain‐based cropping systems.

It has been debated how different farming systems influence the composition of soil bacterial communities, which are crucial for maintaining soil health. In this research, we applied high-throughput pyrosequencing of V1 to V3 regions of bacterial 16S rRNA genes to gain further insight into how organic and conventional farming systems and crop rotation influence bulk soil bacterial communities. A 2×2 factorial experiment consisted of two agriculture management systems (organic versus conventional) and two crop rotations (flax-oat-fababean-wheat versus flax-alfalfa-alfalfa-wheat) was conducted at the Glenlea Long-Term Crop Rotation and Management Station, which is Canada’s oldest organic-conventional management study field. Results revealed that there is a significant difference in the composition of bacterial genera between organic and conventional management systems but crop rotation was not a discriminator factor. Organic farming was associated with higher relative abundance of Proteobacteria, while Actinobacteria and Chloroflexi were more abundant in conventional farming. The dominant genera including Blastococcus, Microlunatus, Pseudonocardia, Solirubrobacter, Brevundimonas, Pseudomonas, and Stenotrophomonas exhibited significant variation between the organic and conventional farming systems. The relative abundance of bacterial communities at the phylum and class level was correlated to soil pH rather than other edaphic properties. In addition, it was found that Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria were more sensitive to pH variation.

Including perennial forages in cropping systems is recognized as one of the best ways to enhance agricultural sustainability. While rotational benefits of forages have been established in small plot research trials, there is no documentation of whether these benefits are being observed on commercial farms, or whether producers manage forage stands to maximize rotational benefits. A survey of 253 Manitoba and Saskatchewan producers known to include forages in their crop rotations was conducted in 1992. The survey area was divided into six agroclimatic zones and correspondence analysis was used to test whether responses differed across the survey area. Sixty‐seven percent of respondents indicated a yield benefit from including forages in the crop rotation, with the greatest yield benefit observed in wetter zones of the survey area. Eighty‐three percent of the respondents observe weed control benefits for one (11% of respondents), two (50% of respondents), or more (33% of respondents) years after forages. The majority of respondents indicated that their forage acreage would not increase in the future. Average forage stand duration varied significantly (P < 0.10) with agroclimatic zone, ranging from 3 to 5 yr in wetter areas (south‐central Manitoba) to 6 to 9 yr in the driest areas (south Saskatchewan). The two most common reasons cited for forage stand termination were reduced forage yield and damage by pocket gophers (presumably Thomomys talpoides and Geomys bursarius). Less than 12% of respondents cited rotational considerations as their primary reason for terminating forage stands, indicating that producers are not managing their forage crops to maximize rotational benefits. Producers relied heavily on tillage in both forage crop establishment and forage stand termination phases of the production system. It was suggested that decreasing the amount of tillage and fallow associated with forage‐based cropping systems would not only facilitate increased cycling of forages in rotations, but also increase agricultural sustainability. Research Question Perennial forage crops are known to enhance sustainability of dryland cropping systems, hence, there is considerable interest in exploiting this traditional practice in modern agriculture. While there is considerable information on rotational benefits of forages from small plot research trials, there is no documentation of whether these rotational benefits are observed on commercial farms. Hence, the first objective was to determine whether producers perceive weed control and yield benefits from inclusion of perennial forages in their rotations, and to determine whether rotational benefits differ in the different agroclimatic zones of western Canada. The second objective was to determine whether producers' management practices are aimed at maximizing cycling of forage crops to capture rotational benefits, or whether they strive to maximize forage stand duration. Literature Summary There is a great deal of information about the benefits of including forage crops, especiall...

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Reduced tillage is increasingly promoted to improve sustainability and productivity of agricultural systems. Nonetheless, adoption of reduced tillage by organic farmers has been slow due to concerns about nutrient supply, soil structure, and weeds that may limit yields. Here, we compiled the results from both published and unpublished research comparing deep or shallow inversion tillage, with various categories of reduced tillage under organic management. Shallow refers to less than 25 cm. We found that (1) division

Cropping records from 13 organic farms in the eastern Canadian prairies and one in North Dakota (1991 to 1996) were surveyed to determine crop rotation pattern, yields and soil nutrient status. Major crops included cereal grains, forages, and green manure legumes. Organic grain and forage yields averaged from one-half to almost double conventional yields. Soil N, K and S levels on organic farms were generally sufficient; however, levels of available soil P were deficient in several instances. Key words: Crop rotation, weeds, forages, green manure crops