The 2008 Joint Meeting of the Society for Range Management and the America Forage and Grassland Council.

Monday, January 28, 2008 - 3:40 PM

Impacts of Sustainable Livestock Production Systems on Soil Carbon Levels and Plant Community Composition of Post-contract Conservation Reserve Program Lands

Miranda A. Vlaminck1, C.S. Schauer2, and Kevin K. Sedivec1. (1) School of Natural Resource Sciences, North Dakota State University, Rm 204, Hastings Hall, Fargo, ND 58105, (2) Hettinger Research and Experiment Station, North Dakota State University, Hettinger, ND 58639

This study began in 2006 to determine effects of sustainable livestock systems; including grazing, haying, and cropping on soil carbon levels and plant species composition on post-contract conservation reserve program lands (CRP) in southwestern North Dakota.  The study was conducted on private land near Hettinger, ND using four treatments on two blocks (replicates) using a randomized complete block design.  The treatments consisted of; 1) season-long grazing from early June through early January or until 50 % disappearance of standing crop (SL), 2) one-cutting haying system in early July (HAY), 3) cropping system using a barley:corn rotation (CROP) on two adjacent fields, and 4) non-use representing continued CRP (CONTROL).  The barley was harvested as hay in the milk stage in mid-July and grazed as aftermath starting early January until mid-April.  The corn was a stock-piled forage system and grazed from January 1 through April 15.  Plant species composition and soil carbon was determined pre-treatment in 2006 on the Vebar-Flasher and Vebar-Parshall soil series for each treatment and study block.  Plant species diversity and density, and soil carbon levels were collected along four 100m line transects located within each treatment.  Soil cores were collected in July along each transect at depths of 0-15 cm and 15-30 cm.  The cores were then ground and analyzed for total, organic, and inorganic carbon.  The dominant species in the plant community were Elymus hispidus, E. trachycaulus, Agropyron cristatum, Bromus inermus, Pascopyron smithii, Medicago sativa, and Melilotus officinalis.  Although there was a block effect (P ≤ 0.05) in soil carbon levels pre-treatment in 2006, no differences (P > 0.05) were observed between treatments.  These findings provide excellent baseline data to determine the impacts of sustainable livestock systems applied in this study to soil carbon levels over time on post –contract CRP lands.

 


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