Introduction of Pulse Crops into the Wheat-Fallow Rotation in Southeastern Wyoming.

Adoption of pulse crops into the dryland wheat fallow cropping system of southeastern Wyoming offers a valuable tool to improve the productivity and sustainability of the agriculture land. Poor soil fertility along with cool and dry conditions lead to difficulties in growing crops and lower crop productivity (Hurisso et al., Norton et al., 2012). A challenge for the area is finding a cash crop that will thrive under dryland conditions. Currently, the most common dryland crop rotation is a winter wheat fallow rotation (NASS). The 14-month fallow period of the rotation is used to preserve soil moisture for the subsequent crop. This rotation has dominated the area for approximately the last 90 years (Lyon et al., 1998), but it is not looked at as a sustainable production system due to soil structure degradation and loss of soil fertility. Introducing pulses into the rotation will allow for additional organic matter to be added to the soil which can increase the water holding capacity and microbial activity of the soil. The nitrogen fixing ability of these legume crops can also lead to higher soil nitrogen. The objectives of this project are to determine if pulse crops can be incorporated into the winter wheat rotation, achieve economically viable yield in a rainfed system, maintain water available to the following wheat crop, and contribute nitrogen to the rotation.