| Oakes Irrigation Research Site |
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| Carrington
Research Extension Center * North Dakota State University |
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| P.O. Box 531,
Oakes, ND 58474-0531, Phone: (701) 742-2744, FAX: (701) 742-2700, E-mail: |
Blaine.Schatz@ndsu.edu |
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Leonard.Besemann@ndsu.edu |
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| Optimum Corn
Stover Removal for Biofuels and the Environment |
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| L. Besemann and H.
Eslinger |
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| The 2007 U.S. energy bill calls for
36 billion gallons of ethanol to be produced by 2020. In 2007 the U.S. produced 6.5 billion
gallons of ethanol. If corn grain was
able to supply 15 billion gallons of ethanol, 21 billion gallons of ethanol
would have to come from cellulosic material (biomass) to meet the 2020
mandate. The production of 21 billion gallons of cellulosic ethanol will
require 350 million tons of dry biomass.
Presently, perennial grasses and corn stover are the most
available. About 194 million tons of
biomass is produced in U.S. production agriculture annually, with 75 million
tons coming from corn stover.
Therefore corn stover is being looked at to play a major role in
cellulosic ethanol production. |
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| Before we commit ourselves to using
corn stover for fuel we need to study the environmental and economic
consequences of this action. What
effect will stover removal have on soil organic matter, soil erosion and
ultimately sustainability of the land resource? |
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| The objective of this study is to
determine what rates of stover removal within different cropping systems are
conducive to maintaining and possibly improving the productive capacity of
the land while providing a renewable energy source. |
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| MATERIALS AND
METHODS |
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| Rotations: |
Block I: 2013 – field corn, 2012 – field corn, 2011 - field corn, 2010
- field corn, 2009 ‑ field corn, 2008 – field corn, 2007 – field corn. |
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Block II: 2013 – field
corn, 2012 – soybean, 2011 - field corn, 2010 - soybean, 2009 ‑ field
corn, 2008 – soybean, 2007 – field corn. |
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Block III: 2013 – soybean,
2012 – field corn, 2011 - soybean, 2010 - field corn, 2009 – soybean, 2008 –
field corn, 2007 - onion. |
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| Soil: |
Embden sandy loam, Hecla sandy loam and Maddock sandy
loam. |
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Block I: soil N 34 lbs/acre. |
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Block II: na. |
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Block III: soil N 22 lbs/acre. |
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| Seedbed preparation: |
Strip-till May 18 with an Orthman strip-till machine. |
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| Hybrid: |
Corn: Wensman W7268 VT
3PRIB. |
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| Variety: |
Soybean: Syngenta S10-P9. |
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| Planting: |
Block I: Corn May 18 in 30-inch rows @ 33,000
seeds/acre. |
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Block II: Corn May 18 in
30-inch rows @ 33,000 seeds/acre. |
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Block III: Soybean May 28
in 30-inch rows @ 205,000 seeds/acre. |
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| Fertilizer: |
Block I: Broadcast 31 lbs N/acre, 103 lbs P2O5/acre, 95 lbs K2O/acre, 26 lbs S/acre,
and 3 lbs Zn/acre as 7-25-23-6-1 May 7.
Twelve lbs N/acre and 40 lbs P2O5/acre as 10‑34-0 via strip-till May 18. Stream‑bar 10 lbs |
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N/acre and
23 lbs S/acre as 12‑0-0-26 May 23 and 60 lbs N/acre as 28-0-0 May
25. Sidedress 126 lbs N/acre June 18
and 60 lbs N/acre as 28-0-0 June 25. |
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Block II: Broadcast 31
lbs N/acre, 103 lbs P2O5/acre, 95 lbs K2O/acre, 26 lbs S/acre, and 3 lbs Zn/acre as 7-25-23-6-1
May 7. Twelve lbs N/acre and 40 lbs P2O5/acre as 10‑34-0 via
strip-till May 18. Stream‑bar 10
lbs |
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N/acre and
23 lbs S/acre as 12‑0-0-26 May 23 and 60 lbs N/acre as 28-0-0 May
25. Sidedress 126 lbs N/acre June 18
and 60 lbs N/acre as 28-0-0 June 25. |
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Block III: Broadcast 31
lbs N/acre, 103 lbs P2O5/acre, 95 lbs K2O/acre, 26 lbs S/acre and 3 lbs Zn/acre as 7-25-23-6-1
May 7. Twelve lbs N/acre and 40 lbs P2O5/acre as 10‑34-0 via
strip-till May 18. |
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| Irrigation: |
Hand move sprinkler irrigation as needed. |
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| Pest
control: |
Block I: Outlook (18 oz/acre) May 23, Laudis (3 oz/acre) + Roundup Power
Max (40 oz/acre) + AAtrex 9-O (0.5 lb ai/acre) + Destiny (0.05%v/v) +
AMS (1½ lbs/acre) June 13. |
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Block II: Outlook (18
oz/acre) May 23, Laudis (3
oz/acre) + Roundup Power Max (40 oz/acre) + AAtrex 9-O (0.5 lb ai/acre)
+ Destiny (0.05%v/v) + AMS (1½ lbs/acre) June 13. |
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Block III: Roundup Power
Max (30 oz/acre) June 6, June 24 and July 2; Section 2EC (8 oz/acre) + NIS
(0.2% v/v) + AMS (1 lb/10 gal) July 2. |
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| Remote
sensing: |
Remote sensing was achieved
with an Opti-Sciences CCM 200 Plus chlorophyll meter and a Holland Crop
Circle ACS active canopy sensor (normalized difference
red edge ‑ NDRE). |
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| Harvest: |
Block I: Hand harvested the entire length (27 feet)
of rows 5 and 8 from each plot on October 18 and October 21. |
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Block II: Hand harvested
the entire length (27 feet) of rows 5 and 8 from each plot on October 21. |
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Block III: October 10
with a 4400 JD combine (48 rows 108 feet long, recorded with a weigh wagon). |
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| RESULTS BLOCK I
(Corn/Corn) - 2013 |
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| Corn stover was
removed at the 33, 67 and 100 percent removal rates in block I (corn/corn
rotation). Stover removal had no
significant effect on grain yield, moisture and test weight. Stover removal had no effect on chlorophyll
readings (Opti-Science CCM 200), Normalized Difference Red Edge (NDRE) indice
(Holland Crop Circle ACS 430) and stalk nitrate-N (Table 1). Longer term data from 2009 to 2012 is
presented in Table 2. The effect on
revenue for the higher yield of the 100 percent removal rate compared to the
0 percent removal rate when the cost of N, P and K are accounted for is shown
in Figure 1. |
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| RESULTS BLOCK II
(Corn/Soybean) - 2013 |
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| Stover removal rates of 33, 67, and
100 had no effect on grain yield, moisture or test weight (Table 3). |
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| RESULTS BLOCK III
(Soybean/Corn) - 2013 |
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| All soybean plots were combine
harvested and bulked. The soybeans
yielded 60.8 bu/acre at 13.9% moisture and had a test weight of 55.9 lbs/bu. |
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Figure 1.
The net return when the fertility cost leaving the field is subtracted
from the yield |
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advantage in 100 percent removal plots compared to
0 percent removal plots for corn on corn |
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from 2008 to 2012 at the Oakes Irrigation Research
Site. |
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| Table 1. The effect of corn stover removal rates on
grain yield and other agronomic parameters for corn on corn plots at the
Oakes Irrigation Research Site in 2013. |
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Grain |
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Stalk DM |
Chlorophyll |
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| Stover |
Grain |
Yield |
Harvest |
Test |
Stalk DM |
Removal |
Meter |
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Stalk |
Fall soil |
Seed |
Emerge |
Silk |
Mature |
Nutrients in stover2 |
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Nutrient Value |
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| Removal |
Yield1 |
2009-13 |
Moisture |
Weight |
Removal2 |
2008-13 |
Reading |
NDRE |
Population |
Nitrate-N |
Nitrate-N |
Oil |
Protien |
Starch |
Date |
Date3 |
Date3 |
N |
P |
K |
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20132 |
2008-2012 |
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| % |
bu/ac |
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% |
lb/bu |
------ ton/ac ------ |
6-Aug |
5-Aug |
plants/ac |
ppm |
lbs |
------------%------------- |
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------ lb/acre ------ |
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------ $/ac
------ |
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| 0 |
232.6 |
221.0 |
22.9 |
47.4 |
0.00 |
0.0 |
48.9 |
0.3606 |
31299 |
5897 |
30 |
2.7 |
8.4 |
73.4 |
5/31 |
212.5 |
275.8 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
$0 |
$0 |
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| 33 |
242.8 |
224.4 |
21.8 |
48.4 |
2.08 |
2.4 |
55.1 |
0.3645 |
32589 |
10364 |
19 |
2.6 |
8.5 |
73.3 |
5/31 |
211.5 |
275.3 |
40 |
3 |
28 |
$37 |
$41 |
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| 67 |
248.9 |
227.1 |
21.7 |
49.1 |
3.20 |
3.7 |
57.6 |
0.3656 |
31863 |
9578 |
24 |
2.5 |
8.6 |
73.4 |
5/31 |
210.0 |
275.5 |
58 |
4 |
40 |
$53 |
$59 |
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| 100 |
249.0 |
226.9 |
21.6 |
48.7 |
4.38 |
5.5 |
59.2 |
0.3649 |
33073 |
11160 |
22 |
2.9 |
8.7 |
72.7 |
5/31 |
209.8 |
274.3 |
87 |
6 |
52 |
$75 |
$82 |
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| Mean |
243.3 |
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22.0 |
48.4 |
2.4 |
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55.2 |
0.3639 |
32206 |
9249 |
24 |
2.7 |
8.6 |
73.2 |
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7/28 |
275.2 |
46 |
3 |
30 |
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$41 |
$46 |
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| C.V. (%) |
3.5 |
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2.9 |
1.2 |
18.5 |
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3.1 |
1.3 |
2.3 |
26.6 |
28.1 |
9.8 |
1.9 |
0.6 |
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0.4 |
0.2 |
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| LSD 0.10 |
11.2 |
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0.8 |
0.8 |
0.6 |
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2.2 |
NS |
956 |
3185 |
NS |
NS |
NS |
NS |
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1.0 |
0.8 |
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| LSD 0.05 |
NS |
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NS |
0.9 |
0.7 |
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2.7 |
NS |
1180 |
NS |
NS |
NS |
NS |
NS |
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1.3 |
0.9 |
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| Planting Date =
May 18; Harvest Date = October 18 & 21; Previous Crop = Corn |
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| Fertilizer Rate
lbs/acre = 300 N, 143 P2O5, 95 K2O; 50 S, 3 Zn; Irrigation = 13.9 inches. |
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| 1 Yield adjusted to 15.5% moisture. |
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| 2 Corn stover removed spring of 2013 from 2012 corn crop. |
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| 3 Silk date; 210 = July
28. Mature date; 259 = September 15. |
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| 3 Opti-Science CCM 200. |
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| 4 Holland Crop Circle ACS active canopy sensor (normalized
difference red edge) - NDRE. |
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| Table 2. Corn on Corn Stover Removal - NDSU Oakes
Irrigation Research site 2009-2012 |
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| Stover |
Grain |
Harvest |
Test |
Chlorophyll |
Reading |
Stalk |
Grain |
Silk |
Mature |
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| Removal |
Yield |
Moisture |
Weight |
Reading |
NDRE |
Nitrate-N |
Protein |
Date |
Date |
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| % |
bu/ac |
% |
lb/bu |
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ppm |
% |
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| 0 |
218.1 |
22.7 |
56.2 |
55.9 |
0.3690 |
1712 |
8.4 |
7/22 |
9/30 |
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| 33 |
219.8 |
22.0 |
56.8 |
55.9 |
0.3671 |
1814 |
8.3 |
7/21 |
9/28 |
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| 67 |
221.6 |
21.9 |
56.6 |
56.5 |
0.3682 |
1671 |
8.3 |
7/20 |
9/28 |
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| 100 |
221.4 |
21.1 |
57.0 |
56.1 |
0.3620 |
2290 |
8.5 |
7/19 |
9/27 |
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| Mean |
220.2 |
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| Table 3. The
affect of corn stover removal from 0 to 100% on grain yield and other
agronomic parameters for corn on soybean plots in 2013. |
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| Previous |
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| Year |
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Grain |
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| Stover |
Grain |
Yield |
Harvest |
Test |
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Fall Soil |
Seed |
Emerge |
Silk |
Mature |
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| Removal |
Yield1 |
2009-13 |
Moisture |
Weight |
Chlorophyll |
NDRE |
Population |
Nitrate-N |
Oil |
Protein |
Starch |
Date |
Date2 |
Date2 |
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| % |
bu/ac |
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% |
lb/bu |
6-Aug |
5-Aug |
plants/ac |
lbs |
------------%------------- |
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| 0 |
241.3 |
228.5 |
20.9 |
49.9 |
59.6 |
0.3649 |
31541 |
23 |
2.7 |
8.8 |
73.3 |
5/31 |
210.0 |
274.5 |
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| 33 |
247.3 |
222.6 |
21.1 |
49.6 |
59.1 |
0.3633 |
32267 |
44 |
2.5 |
8.5 |
73.6 |
5/31 |
210.3 |
275.5 |
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| 67 |
243.1 |
225.6 |
21.2 |
49.0 |
58.6 |
0.3674 |
30895 |
31 |
2.7 |
8.7 |
73.5 |
5/31 |
210.8 |
275.8 |
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| 100 |
247.5 |
226.3 |
21.5 |
48.7 |
60.7 |
0.3672 |
32267 |
29 |
2.6 |
8.8 |
73.4 |
5/31 |
210.3 |
275.0 |
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| Mean |
244.8 |
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21.2 |
49.3 |
59.5 |
0.366 |
31742 |
31.8 |
2.6 |
8.7 |
73.4 |
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210.3 |
275.2 |
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| C.V. (%) |
2.8 |
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2.8 |
1.2 |
6.2 |
1.7 |
2.7 |
58.9 |
9.9 |
2.3 |
0.6 |
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0.2 |
0.2 |
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| LSD 0.10 |
NS |
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NS |
0.8 |
NS |
NS |
NS |
NS |
NS |
NS |
NS |
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NS |
0.5 |
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| LSD 0.05 |
NS |
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NS |
NS |
NS |
NS |
NS |
NS |
NS |
NS |
NS |
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NS |
NS |
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| Planting Date = May
18; Harvest Date = October 21; Previous Crop = Soybean |
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| Fertilizer Rate
lbs/acre = 300 N, 143 P2O5, 95 K2O; 50 S, Zn 3; Irrigation = 13.9 inches. |
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| 1 Yield adjusted to 15.5% moisture. |
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| 2 Silk date; 210 = July 28.
Mature date; 276 = October 1. |
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| Oakes Irrigation
Research Site |
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| Variety trials |
Crop
index |
Home
page |
Report
2013 |
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| Other corn Studies
2013 |
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| Corn hybrid performance trial
irrigated |
|
| Corn hybrid performance trial
dryland |
|
| Fortix fungicide on field corn |
|
| KTS fertilizer-field corn |
|
| Mosaic fertilizer-field corn |
|
| Stoller corn |
|
| Strip-tilled corn N rate corn corn
rotation |
|
|
| Strip-tilled corn N rate corn
soybean rotation |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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