Intercropping Alfalfa into Silage Maize Can Be More Profitable Than Maize Silage Followed by Spring-Seeded Alfalfa

Berti, Marisol T.; Lukaschewsky, Johanna; Samarappuli, Dulan

doi:10.3390/agronomy11061196

Cited by 20 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Conversely to our results, Grabber [13] and Berti et al [15] did not observe a significant reduction in silage corn biomass yield treatments where it was intercropped with alfalfa in normal rainfall conditions. It is possible that in average-rainfall situations, the environment within the canopy of silage corn does not favor alfalfa growth and thus decreases competition with corn early in the season.…”

Section: Corn Grain and Biomass Yield And Plant Heightcontrasting

confidence: 99%

“…In summary, establishing alfalfa in intercropping with corn for grain is feasible and has multiple benefits to soil health and the environment in comparison with corn monoculture, as demonstrated by several pieces of research [14,15,19,30,32,37,48]. It has been demonstrated that alfalfa-silage corn intercropping systems have a higher total net revenue than corn monocultures, despite the yield penalty to corn in the seeding year [14,15,30]. All these studies have been conducted in silage corn and not corn for grain.…”

Section: Alfalfa Forage Nutritive Valuementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Dairy farmers prefer to grow corn for silage instead of alfalfa because alfalfa forage yield in the seeding year is much lower compared with silage corn and about half of the forage yield of corn in a production year [13]. Thus, establishing alfalfa together with another crop, such as corn, in the seeding year provides additional revenue for the farmer to offset the low income in the seeding year [14,15]. Several studies have evaluated alfalfa establishment and forage yield benefits of silage corn-alfalfa intercropping in the US [13][14][15][16].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus, establishing alfalfa together with another crop, such as corn, in the seeding year provides additional revenue for the farmer to offset the low income in the seeding year [14,15]. Several studies have evaluated alfalfa establishment and forage yield benefits of silage corn-alfalfa intercropping in the US [13][14][15][16]. This novel establishment technique has demonstrated potential to increase forage production [15]; however, shading from the corn canopy can hinder alfalfa establishment and seedling survival [13,17].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several studies have evaluated alfalfa establishment and forage yield benefits of silage corn-alfalfa intercropping in the US [13][14][15][16]. This novel establishment technique has demonstrated potential to increase forage production [15]; however, shading from the corn canopy can hinder alfalfa establishment and seedling survival [13,17]. Nonetheless, when alfalfa establishment is successful, this novel system provides several ecosystem services such as reductions in soil erosion and nutrient loading to water [18,19].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Alfalfa Established Successfully in Intercropping with Corn in the Midwest US

et al. 2021

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Integrating alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) with corn (Zea mays L.) for grain will increase biodiversity, reduce the negative environmental impact of corn monoculture and increase farm profitability. The objectives of this research were to evaluate forage productivity and nutritive value, along with stand establishment of alfalfa in a corn grain system in Iowa, Minnesota, and North Dakota. The experimental design was a randomized complete block with four replicates at each site. Treatments included were: sole corn (i.e., check; T1), sole alfalfa (T2), alfalfa intercropped into corn (T3), a prohexadione-treated alfalfa intercropped with corn (T4), and a spring-seeded alfalfa in the year after intercropping (T5), which was planted in plots with T1 the previous year. All sites had below normal rainfall in 2016 and 2017. Corn grain yield was significantly lower when intercropped with alfalfa (T3 and T4) compared with the check corn crop (no alfalfa, T1). Corn grain yield reduction ranged from 14.0% to 18.8% compared with the check (T1). Corn biomass yield was reduced by intercropped alfalfa (T3 and T4) by 15.9% to 25.8%. In the seeding year, alfalfa seasonal forage yield was significantly greater when corn competition was absent in all environments. The intercropped alfalfa from the previous season (T3 and T4) had almost double the forage yield than the alfalfa in the seeding year (spring-seeded alfalfa; T5). In the second production year, there were no meaningful forage yield differences (p > 0.05) across all treatments, indicating alfalfa in intercropping systems does not affect forage yield past the first production year. Prohexadione-calcium, a growth regulator, did not affect alfalfa stand density, forage yield and nutritive value. The forage nutritive value was dependent on harvest date not the alfalfa intercropping treatments. Results of our study suggest that establishing alfalfa with corn is feasible and can be a potential alternative for the upper Midwest region. However, when under drought conditions, this system might be less resilient since competition between alfalfa and corn for soil moisture will be intensified under drought or moisture-limited conditions, and this will likely depress corn grain yield. Research targeted to reintroduce perennial crops into the current dominant corn–soybean systems in the US Corn Belt is urgently needed to improve stability and resiliency of production systems.

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Section: Corn Grain and Biomass Yield And Plant Heightcontrasting

confidence: 99%

Section: Alfalfa Forage Nutritive Valuementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Alfalfa Established Successfully in Intercropping with Corn in the Midwest US

et al. 2021

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Benefits of alfalfa interseeding include reduced residual soil nitrate following corn production

Osterholz

Ruark

Renz

et al. 2021

Agricultural & Env Letters

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Interseeding alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) into corn (Zea mays L.) silage can increase forage production, but the effects on soil nitrate pools remain unknown. We compared soil nitrate pools during and after interseeded alfalfa establishment in corn with pools during production of solo-seeded corn followed by spring-seeded alfalfa. Nitrogen (N) fertilizer was applied at three rates as a preplant broadcast or a 50:50 split between preplant broadcast and banded sidedress applications. During corn growth, soil nitrate levels from 0 to 30 cm were increased by higher N rates but were usually similar for both production systems. However, growth of interseeded alfalfa after corn harvest resulted in substantially lower residual fall and spring soil nitrate levels to a 90 cm depth, particularly under the highest N rate. Additionally, interseeded alfalfa influenced spring nitrate stratification by reducing nitrate in deeper horizons and increasing nitrate in the surface horizon. Interseeded alfalfa can thereby reduce the risk of nitrate leaching.

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Establishment of alfalfa interseeded into corn in response to one cycle of selection and hybridization

Grabber

Riday

Enjalbert³

et al. 2023

Crop Science

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Intercropping alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) in corn (Zea mays L.) can improve forage production, but wet growing conditions and high corn yields adversely impact alfalfa establishment. Therefore, we evaluated breeding alfalfa specifically for intercropping by selecting surviving plants from previous alfalfa varietal evaluations under corn and assigning them to five polycrosses to form cycle-1 synthetics. Pollen from four polycrosses was also used to generate hybrid seed using a male-sterility system. Corn was planted in May, intensively managed, and harvested for silage during September at Arlington and Prairie du Sac Wisconsin during 2019. Parental, polycross, and hybrid alfalfa entries were interseeded as swards between corn rows. Two subplots within each whole plot were treated with prohexadione, fungicide, and insecticide (PFI) or left as nontreated controls. Competition from high yielding corn combined with 43% above average precipitation during the growing season contributed to complete stand failure of nontreated alfalfa. Application of PFI improved foliar health, increased root mass, and enabled alfalfa establishment. Following corn silage harvest average stand density of PFI-treated polycross entries was 35% greater than parental entries (105 vs. 78 plants m −2 ); broad-sense heritability was 0.54. Overall, PFI-treated polycross and hybrid entries had similar stand densities after corn, but posthoc comparisons indicated two hybrids had twofold greater stand density than parental entries. These results indicate plant selection can be highly effective for developing polycross and hybrid germplasm with improved survival under corn. Our findings should stimulate further breeding work to improve alfalfa and other forages for use in intercropping systems.

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Intercropping Alfalfa into Silage Maize Can Be More Profitable Than Maize Silage Followed by Spring-Seeded Alfalfa

Cited by 20 publications

References 30 publications

Alfalfa Established Successfully in Intercropping with Corn in the Midwest US

Alfalfa Established Successfully in Intercropping with Corn in the Midwest US

Benefits of alfalfa interseeding include reduced residual soil nitrate following corn production

Establishment of alfalfa interseeded into corn in response to one cycle of selection and hybridization

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