In recent years, vegetable growers on the central coast of California have come under increasing regulatory pressure to improve nutrient management and reduce nitrate losses to ground and surface waters. To achieve this goal, growers must understand the nutrient uptake and water use characteristics of their crops. For fresh market spinach (Spinacia oleracea), production methods and cultivars have greatly changed in the last 10–15 years, and as a result, few publications are available on nutrient uptake by modern spinach production methods. This study evaluated nutrient uptake and water use by spinach to provide strategies to better manage nitrogen (N) fertilizer and irrigation applications. In 2011, four fertilizer trials and a survey of 11 commercial fields of spinach grown on high-density plantings on 80-inch beds were conducted on the central coast of California. During the first 2 weeks of the crop cycle, N, phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) uptake was 7.0, 0.6, and 7.2 lb/acre, respectively. In the subsequent 2–3 weeks before harvest the N, P, and K uptake rate was linear and was 4.3, 0.6, and 7.8 lb/acre per day, respectively. N uptake at harvest for the three commercial size categories baby, teenage, and bunch was 74, 91, and 120 lb/acre N, respectively. Of the N in aboveground biomass at harvest, 41% was left in the field following mechanical or hand harvest. Growers at 14 of 15 study sites applied on average 111% more N than was taken up in aboveground biomass at harvest. Results from four fertility trials showed that first crops of the season had low initial soil nitrate concentrations (≤10 ppm), and an at-planting fertilizer application was necessary for maximum yields. For fields following a previous crop (second- or third-cropped) with initial soil nitrate concentrations >20 ppm, at-planting and midseason fertilizer applications could be greatly reduced or eliminated without jeopardizing yield. Rooting depth and density evaluations at four sites showed that 95% of roots were located in the top 16 inches of soil at harvest. To mitigate environmentally negative N losses, the N use efficiency (NUE) can be increased by the use of soil testing done at two critical time points: at-planting and before the first midseason fertilizer application.

High levels of residual soil nitrate are typically present in cool-season vegetable fields in coastal regions of California in the fall, after the production of multiple crops over the course of the growing season. This nitrate is subject to leaching with winter rains when fields are left fallow. Although the benefits of growing nitrate scavenging cover crops on soil and water quality are well documented, the portion of vegetable production fields planted to winter cover crops in this region is low. Most growers leave their fields unplanted in bare-fallow beds because the risk of having too much cover crop residue to incorporate may delay late winter and early spring planting schedules. A possible strategy to derive benefits of a cover crop yet minimize the amount of residue is to kill the cover crop with an herbicide when biomass of the cover crop is still relatively low. To evaluate whether this strategy would be effective at reducing nitrate leaching, we conducted field studies in Winter 2010–11 (Year 1) and Winter 2011–12 (Year 2) with cereal rye (Secale cereale). Each trial consisted of three treatments: 1) Fallow (bare fallow), 2) Full-season (cover crop allowed to grow to full term), and 3) Partial-season (cover crop killed with herbicide 8 to 9 weeks after emergence). In Year 1, which received 35% more rainfall than the historical average during the trial, the Full-season cover crop reduced nitrate leaching by 64% relative to Fallow, but the Partial-season had no effect relative to Fallow. In Year 2, which received 47% less rainfall than the historical average during the trial, the Full- and Partial-season cover crops reduced nitrate leaching by 75% and 52%, respectively, relative to Fallow. The Full-season cover crop was able to reduce nitrate leaching regardless of yearly variations in the timing and amount of precipitation. Although the Partial-season cover crop was able to reduce leaching in Year 2, the value of this winter-kill strategy to reduce nitrate leaching is limited by the need to kill the crop when relatively young, resulting in the release of nitrogen (N) from decaying residues back into the soil where it is subject to leaching.

Wheat cultivars and crossbreds with different maturities were tested at a range of sowing times from 1989 to 1991 at 13 sites in the central wheat belt of Western Australia. The aim was to determine if long-season cultivars would allow sowing before mid May, the earliest period estimated by previous studies. Rainfall in the growing season ranged from 176 to 330 mm. Long season cultivars showed the potential to extend the sowing season from early May into late April without loss of yield. Mid-season cultivars reached their maximum yields from sowings in May and short-season cultivars yielded most from late May and early June sowings. The optimum flowering period for the study area over the 3 years was 2-22 September, a period similar to earlier estimates made using only short- and midseason cultivars. It was concluded that, despite considerable variability from year to year both within and between sites, the optimum flowering period did not vary greatly on average and was not greatly affected by the use of long-season cultivars. Sowing after the optimum time resulted in slightly increased grain protein percentages but losses in the value of grain yield would have more than offset increases in the value of grain protein. At the nitrogen rates used in the experiments (80 kg/ha), grain proteins over 11.5% [the minimum for the Australian Hard (AH) grade] were only achieved on average for the long-season AH cultivar Blade at sowing times later than its optimum for yield. The Australian Standard White cultivars, however, mostly achieved 10% protein, an acceptable minimum for that grade, from sowings made at their optimum time. Hectolitre weights fell below the delivery standard of 74 kg/hL in only 3 grain samples. These were all from short-season cultivars sown before their optimum time. Fifteen grain samples from 4 sites contained small grain sievings (2-mm slotted screen) above the delivery standard. Eleven of these samples came from cultivars sown outside their optimum sowing times.

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Growing resistant cultivars from the Brassicaceae family (brassicas) is an effective strategy to minimize crop loss caused by the soilborne pathogen Plasmodiophora brassicae (clubroot). However, there are many clubroot pathotypes, and genetic resistance to clubroot may be pathotype-specific. To determine which pathotypes are present in western Oregon, diseased roots were collected from five farms and identified by the European clubroot differential (ECD) set. To assess resistance to the identified pathotypes, 21 vegetable cultivars from nine crops with purported resistance to clubroot were evaluated for disease incidence and severity in field and greenhouse studies. The crops evaluated included broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica), cauliflower (B. oleracea var. botrytis), brussels sprouts (B. oleracea var. gemmifera), cabbage (B. oleracea var. capitata), napa cabbage (Brassica rapa var. pekinensis), pak choi (B. rapa var. chinensis), kohlrabi (B. oleracea var. gongylodes), turnip (B. rapa var. rapa), and rutabaga (Brassica napus var. napobrassica). ECD host reaction showed similar virulence among clubroot collections, and all field isolates had the same ECD pathotype designation, 16/02/30. Compared with a crop-specific susceptible control, 17 of 21 cultivars had some resistance to clubroot, and of those, 15 were highly resistant (≤15% incidence with low disease severity). This research demonstrated that western Oregon farmers have several commercially available cultivars with resistance to the dominant pathotyope in the region. However, each farmer must evaluate the suitability of these cultivars to meet consumer and industry requirements.