Survey Documents Crop Rotation Practices
Greg Roth
Department of Crop and Soil Sciences
Penn State
March 1998
Many dairy farmers grow corn and alfalfa in rotation. There are many variations on the standard corn alfalfa rotations, however. The length of rotation can vary, some farmers double crop corn following alfalfa, and some include nurse crops like oats or triticale in a corn alfalfa rotation. We are interested in determining the potential for shorter corn alfalfa rotations. This would help to reduce some of the problems associated with corn grown in long rotations.
Recently we conducted a survey of 153 dairy producers who manage a total of 38,000 acres of crops in Franklin and Lycoming counties. Our objective was to study crop rotation practices of producers in the counties.
Our study showed that a surprising number of growers were using rotations that included three years or less of corn. 39% of the growers surveyed indicated they used a 3 year corn-3 year alfalfa rotation of some kind. We also asked the producers what factors they consider in rotating alfalfa back to corn-91% indicated they considered stand density, 40% considered stand age and 23% said they considered feed needs. So most growers are making the decision to rotate based on the density of their alfalfa stands.
We also found that double cropping corn after alfalfa is also relatively popular. About 41% of the producers in Franklin County reported that they double crop corn after alfalfa most of the time. In Lycoming County, where the season is a bit shorter, 24% reported using double cropping corn after alfalfa most of the time.
Alfalfa management practices also vary among producers. Nurse crops such as oats, field peas or triticale are popular in these areas, with 68% of the Lycoming respondents and 31% of the Franklin County producers reporting the use of a nurse crop. The use of no-till alfalfa also varied among the counties with 18% of the Franklin county dairy producers reporting that they used no-till most of the time. In contrast, none of the Lycoming County respondents reported using no-till most of the time.
One factor that is critical in considering shorter rotations is the number of cuttings of alfalfa you harvest in the seeding year. In Franklin County, 75% of the producers reported harvesting three (61%) or four (14%) times in the seeding year. In Lycoming County, only 33% reported harvesting three (30%) or four (3%) times in the seeding year.
Our study demonstrates that crop production practices vary somewhat between the two counties and that there does seem to be potential for short rotations in both areas. A significant number of producers are already using relatively short rotations. This study also indicated several barriers to adopting shorter rotations- low use of no-till alfalfa, and cost of reseeding alfalfa, and only one or two seeding year harvests in some areas. Understanding these factors will help us target our research programs for the future.