Double-cropping Winter Wheat and Soybean Improves Net Returns in the Eastern Great Plains

Abstract

In the eastern Great Plains, winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and different soybean [Glycine max(L.) Merr.] maturity groups (MG) are grown in various cropping systems to diversify crop production. A 10‐year field study was conducted in southeastern Kansas to evaluate effects of multi‐cropping systems on grain yield and net economic returns. Cropping systems evaluated were: (i) annual double‐cropping of wheat and soybean (MG IV); (ii) four 2‐year rotations of wheat‐soybean double‐cropped followed by full‐season soybean the next year, where the same soybean MG (I, III, IV, and V) was grown both years; and (iii) a 3‐year rotation of wheat, wheat, and full‐season (MG V) soybean. On average, wheat yields ranged from 51 bu/acre following early MG I soybean in the 2‐year double‐crop rotation to 36 bu/acre following MG IV soybean in the annual double‐cropping system. Wheat yield differences were primarily determined by planting date. Full‐season (MG V) soybean yields were highest (35 bu/acre) following two years of wheat in the 3‐year rotation. Double‐crop soybean yields in the annual double‐cropping system averaged 26 bu/acre for MG IV. Full‐season and double‐crop soybean yields in the 2‐year double‐crop rotation system were significantly greater for traditional MGs (III, IV, and V) than MG I. Net economic returns averaged $101/acre for annual double‐cropping, which was $10 to $25/acre higher than 2‐year systems with MGs III, IV, and V; whereas, net returns were lowest for the 3‐year rotation ($51/acre) and for the 2‐year system with MG I soybean ($44/acre).

Cover Crops, Fertilizer Nitrogen Rates, and Economic Return of Grain Sorghum

“…The maximum economic grain yields for grain sorghum occurred at the N level of 90 kg N ha −1 . Double‐cropping soybean or grain sorghum after wheat increases cropping intensity and results in extensive use of fixed resources, improved cash flow, and increased net returns (Kelley, 2003). In this study, grain sorghum in the double‐cropped soybean system gave the greatest economic net return.…”

Dual Cropping Winter Camelina with Soybean in the Northern Corn Belt

“…Although the economics of dual crop systems in the South are generally favorable (Kyei‐Boahen and Zhang, 2006), results have been mixed in the Great Plains. For instance, Kelley (2003) found that over a 10‐yr period in Kansas, wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.)–soybean double‐cropping systems provided significantly greater net returns than a conventional 2‐yr wheat–soybean rotation. Conversely, Moomaw and Powell (1990) found that relay‐ and double‐crop wheat–soybean systems did not give as high a return as did growing each as a monocrop.…”

Nitrogen fertilization offsets the N2O mitigating effects of cover‐crops and double‐crop soybean in a wheat–sorghum system

“…In semiarid regions with low precipitation, fallow periods are important to recharge soil water and minimize risks of cash crop failure due to drought stress (Nielsen & Vigil, 2010; Nielsen, Vigil, & Hansen, 2016), but it also promotes greater risks of soil degradation (e.g., soil erosion and decreased organic matter) and N loss. When water is not a limiting factor, double‐cropping (i.e., harvest of two crops from the same land unit in a calendar year) has the advantage to increase the efficiency of land and water use as well as farm profitability (Kelley, 2003). According to Borchers, Truex‐Powell, and Nickerson (2014), soybean [ Glycine max (L.) Merr] is the most common double‐crop (53% of total acres), and is planted immediately after winter wheat harvest.…”