In the Great Plains farmers traditionally use a two-year winter wheat/fallow dryland cropping system to conserve water supplies and reduce crop stress. Scientists at the ARS Central Great Plains Research Station in Akron, Colorado have used a combination of computer models- one of which simulates plant growth under different weather, soil, and management conditions with another that simulates the movement of water, nutrients, and chemicals within and around the root zone. After inputting 16 years of data into the models, the team generated spring canola yield estimates for nine sites in Nebraska, Colorado, and Kansas. Indications are that at six sites there is a 70% chance of producing a canola crop producing a canola seed yield of at least 900 pounds per acre. The most profitable of all the sites was Champion, Nebraska with returns ranging from $67 per acre to $189 per acre. To read further:
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