Tag Archives: weed suppression

SARE Ties with DuPont-Pioneer on Cover Crops

In February, a select group of 300 cover crop experts gathered in Omaha to discuss the prospect of massively enlarging the number of cover crop acres in the Midwest.

At present, there’s an estimated 2,000,000 to 3,000,000 acres of corn and soybean cropland now being improved with cover crops each year. The meeting’s purpose – to explore how to expand that number to 20 million acres in the next six years.

Click here to see presentations of innovative growers who are showing the way how we’ll get there.

 

 

Dupont Pioneer Looks at Cover Crops – Annual Ryegrass

Managing Winter Cover Crops in Corn and Soybean Cropping Systems

DuPont Pioneer Agronomy Research Summary – 2014 (Click here for full report)

 

Table 1. Potential benefits of cover crops.

Potential
Benefit

Description

Retain Soil
Nutrients

 Cover crops scavenge soil nutrients as they grow and
ultimately release them for following crops to use. This
reduces the potential for nutrient losses, especially N.

Prevent Soil
Erosion

 Cover crops help hold soil in place, reduce crusting
and protect against erosion due to wind and rain.

Build Soil
Organic Matter

 Cover crop biomass contributes to soil organic matter,
which helps to improve soil structure, water infiltration,
and water-holding and nutrient-supply capacity.

Break Soil
Compaction

 Cover crop roots can act as “living plows,” breaking up
compacted soil layers. Cover crop shoots can also
help protect the soil from the impact of heavy rains.

Add
Nitrogen
(N)

 Leguminous cover crops fix N as they grow. This N
mineralizes after the cover crop is terminated and
becomes available for use by future crops.

Conserve
Soil
Moisture

 Cover crop residues increase water infiltration and
limit soil evaporation. This helps to reduce moisture
stress during drought conditions.

Suppress
Weeds

 Cover crops shade the soil, which can reduce weed
germination and growth. Some cover crops also have
an allelopathic effect on weeds.

Provide
Additional
Forage

 In some areas, it may be possible to graze, hay or
chop cover crops before terminating in the spring.

In recent years, interest in adding cover crops to corn and soybean cropping systems has increased as their potential benefits have become more widely recognized. Most of these benefits are realized over time as their ongoing use improves soil quality and function (Table 1). Thus, cover crops are best viewed as a long-term investment in soil productivity.

Cover Crop Selection – Grasses, Legumes, Brassicas

Grasses, including winter cereals such as rye, wheat, barley and triticale, are the most widely used cover crops in corn and soybean cropping systems. Winter cereals are typically planted in late summer through late fall and produce a small to moderate amount of root and above-ground biomass before going dormant in the winter. Vigorous growth resumes in early spring, and large amounts of biomass are produced by mid to late spring. Some growers prefer non-winterhardy cereals like oats, which establish rapidly in the fall but winterkill and leave behind little residue to manage in the spring. Annual ryegrass is another option if spring residue levels are a concern.

 

Annual Ryegrass at Commodity Classic – Feb 28

Annual ryegrass is among the most popular cover crops. As such, it will be among the key elements in a Cover Crop learning session at the Commodity Classic this year, in San Antonio, TX. The session will cover both the trend in cover crop use nationally, but also specifics on how to make cover crops work for your acreage.

The Conservation Technology Information Center and DuPont Pioneer are sponsoring the session. Here’s a link to a full story and details about attending

The learning center session, “Cover Your Assets: Improve Productivity, Efficiency and Soil with Cover Crops,” will take place Feb. 28 at 1:45 p.m. in the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, Room 217BC.

The presenters include Mike Plumer and Jamie Scott, both of whom have been long time annual ryegrass advocates. Mike worked for decades for the U. of IL as an Extension Educator. Jamie is an Indiana farmer, whose business now includes providing annual ryegrass seed flown onto about 60,000 acres each year.

Additional experts are Rob Myers, regional director of extension programs for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s North Central Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program and  Karen Scanlon, CTIC executive director, who will moderate the session.

“Cover crops are an exciting topic that continues to gain the spotlight,” Scanlon said.

Annual Ryegrass Popular at Farm Progress Show

By MITCH LIES

Cover crops were center stage at the 2013 Farm Progress Show Aug. 27 – 29 in Decatur, IL. Prominent among them was annual ryegrass.

The emphasis on cover crops mirrors the skyrocketing interest in annual ryegrass and other cover crops by Midwest growers in recent years.

Agricultural consultant Mike Plumer, a retired University of Illinois Extension agent who has worked with cover crops for three decades, estimated that cover crop usage has grown 400 percent in the last two years, alone.

At the 2013 Farm Progress Show, cover crops for the first time were featured in a crop demonstration plot. The exhibit provided growers a first-hand look at different cover crops, like millet, radish, crimson clover, cereal rye, buckwheat, rapeseed, turnips, oats, winter peas and annual ryegrass.

Annual ryegrass has become one of the most well known cover crops in the past 15 years, Plumer said. He estimates that annual ryegrass represents 25 percent of the total cover crop usage in the Midwest.

“My yields have been climbing every year, particularly after the third year,” said Rich Recker, a Mt. Pleasant, Mich., grower who has used cover crops for six years. “The third year is the charm.”

A survey of 750 growers conducted last fall by the Conservation Technology Information Center and the USDA North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program showed that corn planted after cover crops had a 9.6 percent increase in yield, compared to corn planted next to it that didn’t follow a cover crop.

Soybean yields increased 11.6 percent following cover crops.

In the hardest hit drought areas of the Corn Belt, yield differences were even greater, according to the survey, with an 11 percent increase in corn yields and a 14.3 percent increase in soybean yields following cover crops.

The survey showed a 350 percent jump in the total acreage in cover crops between 2008 and 2012.

Joe Rothermel, of Champaign County, Ill., said he’s seen improved soil health since he started using annual ryegrass as a cover crop four years ago. The improved soil health has helped get water to plants, he said, particularly in drought years.

“I think we’ve got to do everything we can to get water into the ground, and keep it there,” Rothermel said.

Rothermel also said he’s getting weed control from the cover crop, a side benefit he never expected when he started using annual ryegrass.

“We don’t have near the marestail pressure,” he said.

Macon,IL., grower Paul Butler said he, too, has been getting weed-control from his annual ryegrass cover crop. He’s also been happy with the ryegrass’s ability to break up compaction.

“When we have compaction issues, there is not a lot I can do,” he said. “The radish and the ryegrass seem to be doing a good job with that.”

Butler said he flies on the annual ryegrass seed before corn is harvested. Doing so gives the annual ryegrass added time to establish  before a killing frost.

John Gullidge, a farmer from Lewisville, Ill., said annual ryegrass is helping tie up nutrients in what he describes as poor soil and put them into a form the next crop can use.

“I’m trying to make the best of what I have with what I can,” he said.

Crop consultant Mark Mellbye, a former Oregon State University Extension agent, has been working with Oregon ryegrass seed growers on developing the Midwest cover crop market since the effort began in 1996.

Overall usage of annual ryegrass in the Midwest has increased from a few thousand pounds in the late 1990s, to maybe 5 million pounds three or four years ago, Mellbye said, and up to 15 or 20 million pounds this year.

The interest in annual ryegrass, Mellbye added, has skyrocketed just between last year and this year.

 

Crop Yield Gains with Cover Crops

SARE (Sustainable Ag Research & Education) released a study of cover crop useage over the past 5 years. Read below, proof positive of the value in both crop yield and soil health. Best yet, the results are those reported by farmers themselves, based on what’s been happening on their farms.

A summary is below…you can find the whole report here: http://www.northcentralsare.org/CoverCropsSurvey

Key findings included the following:

  • During the fall of 2012, corn planted after cover crops had a 9.6% increase in yield compared to side-by-side fields with no cover crops.  Likewise, soybean yields were improved 11.6% following cover crops.
  • In the hardest hit drought areas of the Corn Belt, yield differences were even larger, with an 11.0% yield increase for corn and a 14.3% increase for soybeans.
  • Surveyed farmers are rapidly increasing acreage of cover crops used, with an average of 303 acres of cover crops per farm planted in 2012 and farmers intending to plant an average of 421 acres of cover crops in 2013.  Total acreage of cover crops among farmers surveyed increased 350% from 2008 to 2012.
  • Farmers identified improved soil health as a key overall benefit from cover crops.  Reduction in soil compaction, improved nutrient management, and reduced soil erosion were other key benefits cited for cover crops.  As one of the surveyed farmers commented, “Cover crops are just part of a systems approach that builds a healthy soil, higher yields, and cleaner water.”
  • Farmers are willing to pay an average (median) amount of $25 per acre for cover crop seed and an additional $15 per acre for establishment costs (either for their own cost of planting or to hire a contractor to do the seeding of the cover crop).

New Annual Ryegrass Publications

The Oregon Ryegrass Commission has published three helpful new flyers to aid in your selection and management of annual ryegrass as a cover crop.

1. Selection of Annual Ryegrass

2. 2014 Annual Ryegrass Management Guide – “Quick” 2-pager

3. 2013 Annual Ryegrass Management Guide – Comprehensive 4-pager

Please let us know if these could use further information or clarification.

All of these and more are available on the Annual Ryegrass Cover Crop website.

COVER CROPS MAKE A COME BACK

At the recent Ag Connect Expo & Summit (ACES) in Kansas City a survey conducted by Case IH, found that 85 percent of the 1,109 producer respondents are considering new cropping practices and technologies for this year’s growing season.

Here’s an excerpt from the article:

Cover crops are the top farming practice that will be tried for the first time in 2013 with 24 percent of respondents planning to plant them. “We’re seeing resurgence in cover crop use for multiple reasons,” says Brian. “They can improve soil tilth, water infiltration, organic matter levels, and soil fertility, as well as reduce erosion and suppress weeds.

For more information about annual ryegrass cover crops, click here:

Successful Annual Ryegrass Burndown Recipe

Here are a few observations and comments on annual ryegrass burndown this year:

  1. ARG plants need to be actively growing for at least a week to ensure all plants are indeed actively growing
  2. To kill the annual ryegrass, I always recommend 1.25 lbs a.i./a of glyphosate
  3. Always recommend at least 1 pt 2,4-D
  4. Adding Basis , Sharpen or Canopy with the glyphosate worked well this year (some fields initially had about 95% kill with this combination  but after additional 5-7 days all annual ryegrass plants were dead). This also provide multiple modes of action. More work on timing and rates is needed.
  5. Adding atrazine or Callisto to the glyphosate (especially with cool conditions) will result in poor control of the annual ryegrass
  6. In a normal spring with cool temperatures  glyphosate doesn’t translocate well, so, the following is  recommended:
    1. Reduce carrier to 8-12 gal/ac
    2. Use AMS and also lower water pH to 4.5 to 5.5
    3. Spray on a sunny day if possible
    4. Stop spraying mid afternoon so that there is at least 5 hours of sunlight.

 

Yes, growers using annual ryegrass as a cover crop also have some additional management details to learn.  But it seems once they understand and believe these recommendations, then most of their problems also go away.

I have seen much lower broadleaf pressure on fields where growers are using cereal rye and annual ryegrass.  I have also observed these cover crops eliminating marestail (includging RR resistant marestail).

 

 

 

Midwest Cover Crop Council Publishes Cover Crop Manual

Producers who want to prevent soil erosion, improve nutrient cycling, sustain their soils, and protect the environment have been returning to a very old practice: planting cover crops.

Although farmers have been using cover crops for centuries, today’s producers are part of a generation that has little experience with them.  As they rediscover the role that cover crops can play in sustainable farming systems, many growers find they lack the experience and information necessary to take advantage of all the potential benefits cover crops can offer.  That inexperience can lead to costly mistakes.

This guide will help you effectively select, grow, and use cover crops in your farming systems.  While this guide isn’t the final word on cover crops, it is meant to be a useful reference.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE AND TO ORDER THE BOOK

http://www.ag.purdue.edu/agry/dtc/Pages/CoverCropsFG.aspx