Long‐Term Wheat, Soybean, and Grain Sorghum Double‐Cropping under Rainfed Conditions

Abstract

Inadequate amounts and distribution of rainfall are most often the major limiting factors to crop production in the southern Great Plains. This is especially true for summer crops, whether grown in mono‐ or double‐cropping situations. This study was conducted at the Oklahoma Vegetable Research Station, Bixby, OK from 1976 to 1987 on a Wynona silt loam soil (Cumulic Haplaquolls) with 0 to 1% slope. The objective was to determine the effects of long‐term double‐cropping on the potential for sustaining grain yields of wheat [Triticum aestivum (L.) em. Thell], soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.], and grain sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) produced on the same land under rainfed conditions. Over a 12‐yr period monocropped wheat averaged 3050 compared with 2510 and 2450 kg ha−1 when double‐cropped with soybean and grain sorghum, respectively. Conventionally tilled monocropped soybean and grain sorghum and no‐till double‐cropping of both soybean and grain sorghum after wheat produced grain 11 out of 12 yr. Monocropped soybean averaged 2470 compared with 1930 kg ha−1 for no‐till double‐cropped soybean. Monocropped grain sorghum averaged 5130 compared with 4200 kg ha−1 for double‐cropped grain sorghum. During the years of near 30‐yr average rainfall amounts and distribution (5 out of 11), yields of double‐cropped soybean and grain sorghum were competitive with those of monocropped soybean and grain sorghum. These results indicate that yields of double‐cropped wheat, soybean, and grain sorghum can be sustained over long periods of time. In eastern Oklahoma double‐cropping on a deep medium textured soil produced more total grain that resulted in more efficient use of climatic, land, labor, and equipment resources when compared with monocropping.

Dual Cropping Winter Camelina with Soybean in the Northern Corn Belt

“…Double‐cropping or sequentially producing two crops in a single season is commonly practiced in the mid‐South and southern U.S. regions where the most common double‐crop system is a small grain, generally a winter cereal, followed by soybean (Crabtree et al, 1990; Kyei‐Boahen and Zhang, 2006). Other short‐season summer annual crops such as forage sorghum ( Sorghum bicolor L. Moench), pearl millet ( Pennisetum americanum L.), and sunflower ( Helianthus annuus L.) have also been successfully double‐cropped after a winter cereal (Helsel and Wedin, 1981; Crabtree et al, 1990). Double‐cropping has been tested in the Corn Belt region with winter cereals followed with either a grain or forage/biomass crop (LeMahieu and Brinkman, 1990; Heggenstaller et al, 2008; Krueger et al, 2012).…”

Producing Soybean and Wheat Cropping Systems in Rainfed Environments

“…Thus, risks are associated with production of soybean as a doublecrop following wheat in semiarid regions with erratic rainfall patterns. Large ranges in planting dates have been reported for double crop soybean following wheat (3,20), due to inadequate moisture delaying or preventing planting of doublecrop soybean. Delayed planting dates for doublecrop soybean can reduce yield potential because the time frame before plant response to critical photoperiod inducing flowering is shortened.…”

“…Grower interest has increased dramatically in crops serving as alternatives to complement winter wheat in continuous, winter wheat monocrop areas. Reasons may be agronomic, environmental, or economic (2,3,4,5,18). Soybean can be produced as an early-season or doublecrop with winter wheat in cropping systems, representing multiple cropping and increasing the number of crops harvested per unit area of land for a given time period.…”

Pollination of two oil‐producing plant species: Camelina (Camelina sativaL. Crantz) and pennycress (Thlaspi arvenseL.) double‐cropping in Germany

“…Doublecropping is a cultivation method, where two crops are consecutively produced and harvested on the same land in the same year. While it is common practice in the (mid-) southern United States (especially with wheat followed by soy; Marra & Carlson, 1986;Crabtree et al, 1990), it is less established at higher latitudes as in Germany. A reason is that the second crop may not mature due to the short remainder of the growing season at higher latitudes, unless it is a very fast growing early maturing crop (Shapiro et al, 1992;Gesch & Archer, 2013) or harvested premature, i.e.…”