1. Soil Salinity Management Through Cropping Systems
Chris Augustin
Soil Health Area Extension Specialist
(701)

3. Salinity, Sodicity, Alkalinity???
Normal Soil
Saline Soil
Sodic Soil
Saline-Sodic Soil
EC < 4 dS/m
EC > 4 dS/m
SAR < 13
SAR > 13
pH < 8.5
pH > 8.5

4. Salts Make Plants Think They are in a Drought
Photo Courtesy of Naeem Kalwar

5. Salts move with water!

6. Evaporation and Capillary Rise are a salt’s conveyor belt!
Conventional Till
No-Till

7. Dry Down The Soil! Don’t Dry Up! Deep Rooted High Water Use Crops
Drain Tile
High water use crops-beets/turnips/radish, alfalfa, sunflower, safflower
Table Top Demo

8. Soil Salinity Needs 5 Things
Water
Water Soluble Salts
Na2SO4, CaSO4, MgSO4, NaCl
Recharge Area
Water enters the soils
Discharge Area
Ground water becomes surface water
Evaporation > Infiltration

9. Saline Seep Recharge Evaporation Discharge ThroughflowSS SS SS SS
Discharge SS SS SS SS SS
Throughflow SS SS SS SS
Impermeable Layer

10. Table Top Demo
Managing Saline Soils in North Dakota, David Franzen

11. Recharge
Discharge

12. Ditch Effect Evaporation Recharge Road Discharge Throughflow SS SS SS

15. Evaporation Evaporation Recharge Water Movement Wetland SalinizationSS SS SS SS SS SS
Water Movement SS SS SS SS SS

16. Photo Courtesy Google Earth

17. Photo Courtesy Google Earth

18. Photo Courtesy Google Earth

19. Soybeans HATE SALT!!!
Photo Courtesy of Sarah Lovas

20. Barley, not so much!
Photo Courtesy of Sarah Lovas

21. Crop Response to Salinity
Corn & Flax are similar
Sunflower
Dry Beans
Wheat
Alfalfa
Soybeans
Barley
Canola
Sugarbeet

22. Tolerant Forages (E.C. 15-25)
*Beardless Wildrye
Tall Wheatgrass
Russian Wildrye
*NewHy Hybrid Wheatgrass
Slender Wheatgrass
Altai Wildrye
*Tall Fescue
*Western Wheatgrass
*Strawberry Clover
= wet sites
Tober et al., 2007
Photo Courtesy of Ezra Aberle

23. Moderately Tolerant Forages (E.C. 10-15)
Crested Wheatgrass
Thickspike Wheatgrass
Intermediate Wheatgrass
Pubescent Wheatgrass
*Creeping Foxtail
*Prairie Cordgrass
Canada Wildrye
Buffalo Grass
= wet sites
Tober et al., 2007
Photo Courtesy of Ezra Aberle

24. Saline Mix (Plant asap to maximize water use)
Seed
lbs/ac/
seeding rate
Barley 35
Sugarbeet 1
Sunflower 5
Canola/Safflower
Hal Wieser, NRCS Soil Health Specialist

25. NDAWN Season Long Crop Water Use
Total Rainfall
Alfalfa
Sugar beet
Corn
Turf Grass
Soy- bean
Potato
Sun-flower
Dry Bean
Wheat
Barley
Inches of Water Used
23.64
25.75
23.25
19.74
19.02
19.13
17.05
15.97
14.80
14.38
12.55
Surplus or Deficit
-2.11
+0.39
+3.90
+4.62
+4.51
+6.59
+7.67
+8.84
+9.26
+11.09
Water use was from May 1 – Oct 15, 2013 at Oaks NDAWN

26. Winter Wheat and Cover Crop Water Use
Total Rainfall
Winter Wheat
Aug 5 Cover Crop Sunflowers
Inches of Water Used
16.02
14.21
6.00
Surplus or Deficit
1.81
-4.19
Mix of cool season grass and warm season broadleaf
Jim Starika, WREC found over 10yr average that fallow (tilling) evaporated 3.10 inches of rainfall over growing season

27. Season NDAWN Crop Water Use
Barley
Wheat
Sun-flower
Dry Bean
Soy- bean
Corn
Sugar beet
Inches of Water Used
8.19
7.70
7.38
7.04
5.83
5.72
5.70
Estimate is for Aug 5 emergence to Oct 15, 2013 at Oaks NDAWN
Crop
Barley
Wheat
Dry Bean
Sun-flower
Sugar beet
Soy- bean
Corn
Inches of Water Used
2.93
2.64
2.38
2.42
1.89
1.85
1.79
Estimate is for Sept 5 emergence to Oct 15, 2013 at Oaks NDAWN

28. Winter Wheat and Cover Crop Water Use
Total Rainfall
Winter Wheat
Aug 1 Cover Crop Sunflowers
Inches of Water Used
23.64
14.38
7.38
Surplus or Deficit
9.26
+1.88
Mix of cool season grass and warm season broadleaf

29. Dry bean and Cover Crop Water Use
Total Rainfall
Dry Bean
Sept 5 Cover Crop Barley
Inches of Water Used
23.64
14.80
2.93
Surplus or Deficit
+8.84
+5.91
Mix of warm season broadleaf and cool season grass

30. Saline Seep Management
Recharge SS SS SS SS
No Discharge.
Salts have moved. SS SS SS SS SS
Water Movement SS SS SS SS
Impermeable Layer

31. Ditch Effect Management
No Discharge.
Salts have moved.
Recharge
Road SS SS SS SS SS SS
Water Movement SS SS SS SS SS SS SS

32. Wetland Salinization Management
No Discharge.
Salts have moved.
No Discharge.
Salts have moved.
Recharge SS SS SS SS SS SS
Water Movement SS SS SS SS SS

33. Site Specific Cover Cropping in Saline Areas
Alfalfa
Salt Tolerant Cover Crops/ Perennial Crops
Normal Crops & Cover Crops when possible

34. Cropping Systems Can Fix Saline Areas!

37. Discharge
Recharge
Recharge

38. Summary
Salinity is caused by excessive water that brings salts into the root zone
Salinity management is water management
Salts move up with water and down with water
Think about landscapes
Tillage and crops manage water.
However, evaporation can make your soils more prone to salinization, erosion, and loose O.M.
Crops utilize more water than tillage and have greater benefits for the soil.
Stay on top of your E.C.

39. Questions?

40. Works Cited
Aberle, E Cover Crops CREC Research Review. Carrington Research Extension Center, Carrington, ND.
American Society of Agronomy Cover Crops in Crops and Soils. Am. Soc. Agron. 42:6.
Blanco-Canqui, H., J.D. Holman, A.J. Schlegel, J. Tatarko, and T.M. Shaver Replacing fallow with cover crops in semiarid soil: Effects of soil properties. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 77:
Bundy, L. G. and T.W. Andraski Recovery of fertilizer nitrogen in crop residues and cover crops on an irrigated sandy soil. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 69:
Chen, G. and R.R. Weil Root growth and yield of maize as affected by soil compaction and cover crops. Soil and Tillage Research. 117:17-27.
Dragseth, K., C. Hill, and J. Staricka WREC cover crop study. NDSU-WREC/MSU-EARC 2009 Agricultural Research Update. Williston Research Extension Center, Williston, ND.
Folorunso, O.A., D.E. Rolston, T. Prichard, and D.T. Loui Soil surface strength and infiltration rate as affected by winter cover crops. Soil Technology. 5:
North Dakota Agricultural Weather Network Crop water use calculator. Online [ Verified Dec. 16, North Dakota State University. Fargo, ND.
Staricka. J Plant crops to dry out excessively wet fields. WREC Report. Williston Research Extension Center, Williston, ND.
Tober, D., W. Duckwitz, and S. Sieler Plant materials for salt-affected sites in the Northern Great Plains. USDA-NRCS Plant Materials Center, Bismarck, ND.
White and Weil Plant and soil.