Click on “Download PDF” for the PDF version or on the title for the HTML version. If you are not an ASABE member or if your employer has not arranged for access to the full-text, Click here for options. Economic and Environmental Implications of Small Grain Production and Use on Pennsylvania Dairy FarmsPublished by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, St. Joseph, Michigan www.asabe.org Citation: Paper number 021069, 2002 ASAE Annual Meeting . (doi: 10.13031/2013.9312) @2002Authors: C. Alan Rotz, Greg W. Roth, William L. Stout Keywords: Farm systems, Dairy, Small grain, DAFOSYM, Economics, Environment, Simulation Whole farm simulation was used to determine if adding small grain crops to traditional corn and alfalfa rotations provided long-term environmental and economic benefits. Small grain cropping strategies included 1) corn double cropped with barley harvested as cash crop grain and straw bedding, 2) corn double cropped with barley harvested as feed grain and straw, 3) corn double cropped with barley harvested as silage, 4) corn double cropped with rye harvested as silage, and 5) corn replaced with cash crop wheat and straw bedding. Nitrogen leaching loss over the farm was reduced by 10 kg/ha (9 lb/acre) when 40% of the corn was double cropped with a small grain, and soil P accumulation was reduced by 2 kg/ha (1.8 lb/acre). Farm net return or profit was increased by up to $93/cow when double-cropped barley or single-cropped wheat was harvested as grain and straw, by about $30/cow for double-cropped barley silage, and $50/cow for double-cropped rye silage. Use of small grains generally reduced the risk or year-to-year variation in net return. Use of small grain crops on Pennsylvania dairy farms should be encouraged, particularly when double cropped with corn, to reduce N leaching loss, reduce soil P accumulation, and improve farm profit. (Download PDF) (Export to EndNotes)
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