Green Manure Comparison between Winter Wheat and Corn: Weeds, Yields, and Economics

Abstract

Red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) and hairy vetch (Vicia villosa Roth) are leguminous crops ("green manure" hereaft er), widely studied for their N 2 -fi xing contributions to cropping systems. Under certain circumstances they can provide weed control in cash crops. Th is study compared weed control, crop yields, herbicide use, and economic performance of these green manures in a no-till winter cereal-green manure-corn (Zea mays L.) silage cropping sequence in central Pennsylvania. Red clover was interseeded into winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) or rye (Secale cereale L.), while hairy vetch and triticale (X Triticosecale) were planted aft er winter cereal harvest. Compared to hairy vetch, red clover provided continuous soil cover between the winter cereal and corn and two herbicide applications could not be applied (one in wheat and one prior to seeding hairy vetch) to the red clover, reducing herbicide active ingredient use by 28%. Weed infestation in wheat and corn did not differ between green manure systems, but corn yield following red clover averaged 3320 kg ha -1 more, and 2012 wheat yield was 180 kg ha -1 greater in the red clover sequence. Corn aft er hairy vetch-triticale had lower corn plant population in 2012-2013. Yield diff erences in corn in 2012 probably resulted from population diff erences. Primarily because of red clover forage value, the red clover system resulted in greater net returns to management by US$1360 ha -1 , and even without the forage harvest, the red clover system would have been more profi core ideas• As a green manure, red clover provided multiple benefi ts over hairy vetch and triticale.• Red clover underseeded in winter grain, produced continuous cover, forage, and higher corn yield.• Compared to hairy vetch and triticale, red clover controlled weeds with less herbicide.• Red clover was more profi table than hairy vetch.

Ground Beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae) Assemblages and Slug Abundance in Agricultural Fields Under Organic and Low-Input Conventional Management Within a Long-Term Agronomic Trial in Central Italy

“…The cover crop reasonably explained this event, although the subsequent dry summer season drastically reduced their mobility. This reduced the potentially negative effects on the following crops as already described in areas with rainy climate, from Vernava et al (2004) and Snyder et al (2016). The trend of slug captures have a weak correspondence to the whole carabidofauna sampled in the same periods, but it corresponded with the peak of P. cupreus captures observed in the organic fields.…”

Legume Cover Crops Provide Nitrogen to Corn During a Three‐Year Transition to Organic Cropping

“…Leguminous cover crops are often included in field‐crop rotations to store and supply crop‐available N (Cherr et al, 2006a; Snyder et al, 2016). Although only a fraction of total N in cover crop biomass will be available for the succeeding crop, it is crucial in organic farming systems where other acceptable N sources (e.g., manures, composts) are sometimes either not available or could result in overapplication of phosphorus (Sadeghpour et al, 2017).…”

Tolerance of Interseeded Annual Ryegrass and Red Clover Cover Crops to Residual Herbicides in Mid-Atlantic Corn Cropping Systems

“…]–wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) or wheat/red clover rotation (Ketterings et al 2015). Increasing cropping system diversity is an effective strategy for reducing weed populations and may permit reductions in herbicide inputs (Liebman and Dyck 1993; Smith and Gross 2007; Snyder et al 2016). Consequently, mid-Atlantic producers that utilize diverse cropping systems may be able to effectively manage weed populations in no-till corn with two-pass programs using short-lived residual herbicides, thereby enabling cover crop interseeding.…”