Dry conditions prompt a wide range of row spacing strategies.
At Agriculture Canada’s Semiarid Prairie Ag Research Centre in Swift Current, Sask., scientists are studying nine and 18 inch spacings as part of their work on a technique called clumped seeding.
“But it’s not really what we think of as a row spacing test,” said Brian McConkey, a researcher at the centre.
“Clumped seeding is more along the traditional lines of seeding a hill of corn or hill of beans. You clump the seeds together. In our current work, it happens to be nine inch and 18 inch spacings.”
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He said clumped seeding has been successfully tried in the southern Great Plains, where conditions are generally dry.
Although his one year of data isn’t enough to draw conclusions, he said he has seen a 15 percent yield difference in wheat.
“But in canola, there’s no yield difference between nine inch and 18 inch spacing. That’s because canola is always a different sort of crop when it comes to spacing. It’s less sensitive to wide spacing because of the tremendous branching. It grows as a kind of cabbage, so it fills those spaces quickly.”
McConkey said crops other than canola behave differently, which is why research he conducted in the 1990s found that eight inch row spacing had a distinct yield advantage over 12 inch row spacing for many commercial crops.
The four-year project compared row spacing in spring wheat, durum, flax, lentils, mustard, field peas and chickpeas.
Crops grown on the eight inch spacing averaged ten percent higher yields than crops grown on the 12 inch spacing.
“Lateral root expansion on 12 inch spacing took an extra 10 days. That’s the additional time it took for the roots to completely explore the inter-row area,” he said.
“Also, the impact is greater for wide row spacing in drier climates because the canopy is less vigorous. It’s less able to fill the inter-row area. In a narrower row, you have better canopy cover.”
McConkey said the Swift Current centre has added a new Seed Master plot drill to its equipment lineup this year to help explore the intricacies of row spacing.
“One thing we really want to explore more is the impact of stubble height for snow catch. That’s why we chose this plot seeder. We’ll have the Smart Hitch installed so we can seed between the rows.”
He said he wants to work with stripper headers and tall stubble to help improve soil moisture conditions and yield in the semiarid region.
For more information, phone Brian McConkey at 306-778-7281.
