Effect of Date of Planting and of Pasturing on the Depletion of Soil Moisture during the Fall and Winter at Garden City, Kans

ARMERS in Southwest Kansas are vitally interF ested in the time of planting winter wheat because of the relationship between planting date, control of soil blowing, and the production of pasture for livestock. Efficient use of moisture is another important consideration. Conditions during the fall and winter of 1949-50 provided an unusual opportunity for determining the effect of time of planting and of pasturing on water use. A wet summer season in 1949 had filled the soil to its moisture holding capacity by seeding time. A dry season after planting prevented replenishment of soil ,moisture, and the difference between the water content in the fall and the early spring provided a true measure of water use under the different treatments. The moisture study was conducted on a rate and date of planting test that has been under way for the past 8 years. In this experiment wheat is planted at different rates at 2-week intervals from August 15 to October 15. The results to date favor a planting rate of 20 pounds to the acre on September 15. Later planting dates require heavier rates of seeding. In the fall of 1949 duplicate plantings were made August 15 and one of them was pastured to determine the effect of this practice on yield and on water use. The effect of time of planting and of pasturing on the reduction of soil moisture during the winter is shown in Table 1. The moisture determinations are on wheat planted at the 30-pound rate. The results show that water use during the winter period was highest from the earliest planting and successively lower at later planting dates. The most surprising result was the great reduction in water use on the pastured plot. The spring water content of the plot planted August 15 and pastured was comparable with that of unpastured wheat planted September 15. The tendency of farmers is to plant wheat the latter