INVESTIGATIONS AT ARDMOKE, S. DAK. 21 



but are sufficient to establish what may reasonably be expected from 

 different cropping practices. 



The choice of crops that a farmer makes depends upon the live- 

 stock that he raises. The farmer or rancher with a large number of 

 stock to be wintered should have a considerable acreage of corn or 

 sorgo, and he may find that a 2-year rotation of a cultivated crop 

 followed by small grain w T ill about meet his requirements. In such a 

 rotation the grower could reasonably expect an average yield of ap- 

 proximately 14 bushels of ear corn and 1,900 pounds of stover or 2 

 tons of sorgo fodder on land that had produced grain the year before. 

 On the land that had been in corn or sorgo the year before, the 

 average production should be about 16 bushels of wheat, 32 of oats, 

 or 26 of barley. 



A grow r er with less need for cultivated crops might plant only one- 

 third of his acreage to them and two-thirds to small grains. In this 

 case the expected yield per acre of cultivated crops would be the 

 same as where half the cropped acreage is in cultivated crops. Half 

 of the small grain could be expected to yield at the rate following cul- 

 tivated crops, the other half at the rate following small grains, or 

 12 bushels for wheat, 27 for oats, and 19 for barley. This is actually 

 the minimum expectation, as some effect of the cultivated crop would 

 extend into the second year. 



The choice of small grains would depend on the use to which they 

 are to be put. Wheat normally commands the best price on the mar- 

 ket, and should be the choice when a crop is grown for sale. Barley 

 is the most productive grain crop and can be depended on to produce 

 the most feed, and should be grown to the extent that it can be uti- 

 lized. Oats can be grown to the extent of their use for specialized 

 classes of livestock. 



Modification of the system can be made as required. Sharp reduc- 

 tion of the livestock may make it desirable to replace part of the 

 acreage of cultivated crops with fallow. Regardless of the combina- 

 tion, probable average crop yields, as shown in the sequence studies, 

 should be easily determined. 



Wheat, as the cash crop, should be planted where it will have the 

 least chance of becoming mixed with other crops. Mechanical mix- 

 ture with other grains is less important with feed crops than with 

 cash crops. 



Alfalfa and similar hay crops are not adapted to growth in rota- 

 tions, but nearly every farm has favorably situated land on which 

 they may be grown in comparatively permanent fields. 



The first consideration in a farming system should be the produc- 

 tion of feed suited to the needs of the livestock to be grown. Second- 

 ary consideration should be given to the production of grain for sale. 

 During years of good prices, returns from grain farming may be 

 attractive, but very few farmers not producing livestock have been 

 able to continue through successive years of drought or low prices. 



FIELD TRIALS 



AVERAGE YIELDS FROM FIELD TRIALS COMPARED WITH AVERAGE YIELDS FROM 



ROTATIONS 



Crops were grown on a field scale from 1917 to 1932. Production 

 of crops was for the purpose of furnishing feed for the livestock 



