Great Bend Tribune
Published October 22, 2023
The drought monitor report as of 8 a.m. Tuesday, October 17, shows no real change again for our area this week. The corner of Southwest Kansas is still overall in the best shape for the state followed by Northwest Kansas. The six to ten-day outlook (October 24 to 28) indicates normal to leaning slightly above normal temperatures and a 50 to 60% chance of leaning above normal precipitation. The NWS forecasts as of Friday are indicating a chance for significant rainfall early next week. The eight to fourteen-day outlook (October 26 to November 1) indicates a 40 to 50% chance of below normal temperatures and a 33 to 40% chance of above normal for precipitation. Better news for the 2024 wheat crop. One positive to the current weather is tremendous progress has been made harvest the fall 2023 crops.
Last week, we discussed the geographic origin of our major/minor crops in the region. A very diverse group of crop species. How they were adapted, initially through conventional plant breeding to geographic areas far outside their origin. Now we have advanced to be able to use genetic engineering to further increase adaptation. Today. How can we adapt current area crops and find new crops in a changing climate?
Some of the introduced plants we grow came from areas similar to ours. Think hard red winter wheat and even corn. Although, we modified it pretty dramatically. For corn, through conventional breeding its range of adaptability has been extended clear to the Canadian border. Soybeans, from southeast Asia have undergone a similar transformation and again are planted now into the Dakotas and even Minnesota. Cotton now is a viable crop in Southern Kansas. The thing to remember is that as you increase the area of adaptation you lose yield. To get something, you give up something. SCN soybeans are resistant to cyst nematode and yield less than the same variety without the trait. In English, with the nematode present the resistant variety yields are much higher and without the nematode the nonresistant variety out yields the resistant one. This hold true when you make a crop adaptable outside its normal area of adaption. It out yields the original crop in its area of adaption but will greatly underperform in the crops traditional area. However, through cultural practices you can somewhat compensate for that yield drag.
Here, we are considering several factors: more extreme weather in terms of temperature and precipitation (i.e. hotter extended periods of temperature and more severe droughts and even wetter wet periods.); dealing with the reality of a declining aquifer and even surface waters for irrigation. So, what are we potentially looking at?
- Shorter maturity conventional crops such as corn, wheat, milo, and even soybeans.
- Developing more palatable forage crops for livestock. BMR technology is an example. Along with this, allowing cattle more time on pasture and forages. Research is also underway for more palatable rye for grazing and better adapted barley varieties.
- Through genetic engineering, most likely, develop more water efficient crops that are more drought and heat tolerant. For grain crops, minimize vegetative growth and partition more to the grain. The sky is potentially the limit.
- What new crops are out there to utilize such as pearl millet for feed? Can we develop a new species better adapted to our conditions like was done with triticale?