Climate-smart agriculture in Midwest cropping systems: evaluating the benefits and tradeoffs of cover crops

Basche, Andrea

doi:10.31274/etd-180810-4342

Cited by 3 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 140 publications

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“…Yield predictions resulted in non-significant differences for both maize (p=0.92) and soybean (p=0.94) between the cover crop and no cover treatments over the simulation period (2015 to 2060). Over the period of model calibration (2003-2008) and validation (2009-2014), there were also not any years at the research site where there were statistically different crop yields between the cover and no cover crop treatment (Kaspar et al, 2007;Kaspar et al, 2012;Basche, 2015). This level of agreement with the field data gives us confidence in our predictions for yield differences between the two treatments.…”

Section: Cover Crop Impacts On Maize and Soybean Yieldssupporting

confidence: 62%

“…Although there was a non-significant maize yield reduction in the cover crop treatment, our analysis of the soil water record indicated higher moisture levels at 5-cm, 15-cm and 30-cm depths during the grain fill period for maize (Basche, 2015). Even with the competition for soil water predicted by APSIM in the very dry seasons, yield reductions predicted in the cover crop treatment are relatively small in these years.…”

Section: Wet and Dry Year Analysismentioning

confidence: 53%

“…In the field, we observed greater evidence of soil water depletion (as compared to APSIM predictions) as the winter rye cover crop grows, but in the simulations as well as in the field observations spring rainfall in Iowa restores soil moisture to the same level in both treatments (Basche, 2015). Further, as cash crop growth proceeded, soil water predictions tended to be the same in the cover crop and no cover crop simulations ( Figure S7a, S7b).…”

Section: Crop Production Impactsmentioning

confidence: 61%

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Simulating long-term impacts of cover crops and climate change on crop production and environmental outcomes in the Midwestern United States

Basche

Archontoulis

Kaspar

et al. 2016

Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment

180

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It is critical to evaluate conservation practices that protect soil and water resources from climate change in the Midwestern United States, a region that produces one-quarter of the world's soybeans and one-third of the world's maize. An over-winter cover crop in a maize-soybean rotation offers multiple potential benefits that can reduce the impacts of higher temperatures and more variable rainfall; some of the anticipated changes for the Midwest. In this experiment we used the Agricultural Production Systems sIMulator (APSIM) to understand how winter rye cover crops impact crop production and environmental outcomes, given future climate change. We first tested APSIM with data from a long-term maize-soybean rotation with and without winter rye cover crop field site. Our modeling work predicted that the winter rye cover crop has a neutral effect on maize and soybean yields over the 45 year simulation period but increases in minimum and maximum temperatures were associated with reduced yields of 1.6%-2.7% by decade. Soil carbon decreased in both the cover crop and no cover crop simulations, although the cover crop is able to significantly offset (3% less loss over 45 years) this decline compared to the no cover crop simulation. Our predictions showed that the cover crop led to an 11-29% reduction in erosion and up to a 34% decrease in nitrous oxide emissions (N 2 O). However, the cover crop is unable to offset future predicted yield declines and does not increase the overall carbon balance relative to current soil conditions.

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Section: Cover Crop Impacts On Maize and Soybean Yieldssupporting

confidence: 62%

Section: Wet and Dry Year Analysismentioning

confidence: 53%

Section: Crop Production Impactsmentioning

confidence: 61%

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Simulating long-term impacts of cover crops and climate change on crop production and environmental outcomes in the Midwestern United States

Basche

Archontoulis

Kaspar

et al. 2016

Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment

180

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“…The late cover crop termination in system (B) prevented an early soybean sowing date, which is needed for achieving high yields in no-tillage herbicide-free systems. Previous research suggested strategies to allow an earlier planting date, i.e., using earlier-flowering rye cultivars [17,28], planting rye earlier [10,26,[29][30][31], planting soybean at the boot stage of rye cultivars with low regrowth potential [32,33], and planting soybean into standing rye prior to termination.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, Flower et al [10] indicated that late killing of the cover crop reduces soil water storage. While cover crops are known to improve water retention (especially during winter), they are not able to offset crop yield declines that may occur because of temperature and water stress [19,30].…”

Section: Soybean Productivitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Soybean in No-Till Cover-Crop Systems

et al. 2019

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Introducing agro-ecological techniques such as no-tillage systems with cover crops in rotations with soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) could provide more resilience to changing climatic conditions and, at the same time, reduce soil erosion, nitrate leaching, and weed density in the main crop. However, there are challenges in introducing no-tillage techniques in crop systems in Europe as there is little quantitative knowledge about the agro-economic impact. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the agronomic and economic impacts of three soybean cropping systems involving a rye (Secale cereal L.) cover crop prior to soybean, i.e., two no-tillage systems; either herbicide-free with crimping the rye or herbicide-based without rye crimping and one plough-based in which rye was cut as green silage. The impacts of these cropping strategies were compared in a three-year cropping system experiment at a research station in north-eastern Germany with and without irrigation. The following parameters were measured: (1) cover crop biomass; (2) weed biomass; (3) soybean plant density; (4) soybean grain yield; and (5) gross margin of the cropping system. The results showed that all three soybean cropping systems can effectively suppress weeds. System (C), the no-tillage herbicide-based system, produced the lowest rye biomass and highest soybean yield; system (B), the no-tillage herbicide-free/crimped rye system, produced the highest rye biomass and lowest soybean yield compared to system (A), the standard cutting/plough-based system. The differences in rye biomass and soybean yield observed between the three systems could be mainly attributed to the timing of the cover crop termination and the soybean sowing date. The gross margin was highest in system (C), due to the high soybean grain yield. The low soybean grain yield in system (B) resulted in lower revenues and gross margins compared to systems (A) and (C), although system (B) could be economically attractive in organic farming with higher prices for organic soybean. In the particularly dry year 2016, gross margins were higher when soybean was irrigated compared to the rainfed cultivation, due to significantly higher grain yields. Before recommending the application of the no-tillage with cover crop technique for the conditions tested in north-eastern Germany, more investigations on the benefits and risks of this technique are needed. Further research needs to focus on maintaining a high rye biomass as well as on ensuring an early soybean planting date. Optimizing the crimping and drilling equipment is still required in order to develop good management practices for no-tillage herbicide-free systems in European conditions.

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Case for Climate Smart Agriculture in Addressing the Threat of Climate Change

Eleblu

Darko

Danquah

2021

African Handbook of Climate Change Adaptation

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Climate smart agriculture (CSA) embodies a blend of innovations, practices, systems, and investment programmes that are used to mitigate against the adverse effects of climate change and variability on agriculture for sustained food production. Food crop production under various climate change scenarios requires the use of improved technologies that are called climate smart agriculture to ensure increased productivity under adverse conditions of increased global temperatures, frequent and more intense storms, floods and drought stresses. This chapter summarizes available information on climate change and climate smart agriculture technologies. It is important to evaluate each climate change scenario and provide technologies that farmers, research scientists, and policy drivers can use to create the desired climate smart agriculture given the array of tools and resources available.

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Climate-smart agriculture in Midwest cropping systems: evaluating the benefits and tradeoffs of cover crops

Cited by 3 publications

References 140 publications

Simulating long-term impacts of cover crops and climate change on crop production and environmental outcomes in the Midwestern United States

Simulating long-term impacts of cover crops and climate change on crop production and environmental outcomes in the Midwestern United States

Soybean in No-Till Cover-Crop Systems

Case for Climate Smart Agriculture in Addressing the Threat of Climate Change

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