Winter Annual Weed Suppression in Rye–Vetch Cover Crop Mixtures

Abstract

Winter annual weeds can interfere directly with crops and serve as alternative hosts for important pests, particularly in reduced tillage systems. Field experiments were conducted on loamy sand soils at two sites in Holt, MI, between 2008 and 2011 to evaluate the relative effects of cereal rye, hairy vetch, and rye–vetch mixture cover crops on the biomass and density of winter annual weed communities. All cover crop treatments significantly reduced total weed biomass compared with a no-cover-crop control, with suppression ranging from 71 to 91% for vetch to 95 to 98% for rye. In all trials, the density of nonmustard family broadleaf weeds was either not suppressed or suppressed equally by all cover crop treatments. In contrast, the density of mustard family weed species was suppressed more by rye and rye–vetch mixtures than by vetch. Cover crops were more consistently suppressive of weed dry weight per plant than of weed density, with rye-containing cover crops generally more suppressive than vetch. Overall, rye was most effective at suppressing winter annual weeds; however, rye–vetch mixtures can match the level of control achieved by rye, in addition to providing a potential source of fixed nitrogen for subsequent cash crops.

Organic No-Till with Roller Crimpers: Agro-ecosystem Services and Applications in Organic Mediterranean Vegetable Productions

“…ASC may have impact on soil fertility (Thorup Montemurro et al, 2013), occurrence of weeds (Bàrberi, 2002;Hayden et al, 2012), diseases and pests (Masiunas, 1998;Patkowska et al, 2013). They increase soil carbon (C) sink potential (Mazzoncini et al, 2011), influence greenhouse gasemission (Sanz-Cobena et al, 2014) and improve system energy use efficiency (Gomiero et al, 2008;Canali et al, 2013).…”

Impacts of Organic Zero Tillage Systems on Crops, Weeds, and Soil Quality

“…Thus, cover crop species may vary in weed suppressive ability based on N input and also differences in N response by contrasting weed species. For instance, Hayden et al [92] showed that while non-mustard family weed species were suppressed equally by rye alone and rye/vetch, rye alone suppressed mustard family weeds better than rye/vetch. The authors suggested that the mustard family weeds were highly sensitive to N depletion and thus suffered more with rye alone than the non-mustard weed species.…”

The Current State and Future Directions of Organic No-Till Farming with Cover Crops in Canada, with Case Study Support

“…For leguminous hairy vetch (Vicia villosa), the total biomass of monocultures is about half that of cereal cover crops like rye, making it difficult to achieve suppressive biomass levels [39,40]. Rye is shown to have more consistent weed suppression capabilities, reaching 95-98% suppression, than vetch, reaching 71-91% [41]. In organic agriculture, leguminous cover crops are needed to fix nitrogen for the following heavy-feeding cash crop, like corn [38].…”

“…In organic agriculture, leguminous cover crops are needed to fix nitrogen for the following heavy-feeding cash crop, like corn [38]. When combining rye and vetch for a cover crop, Hayden et al state that at least half the biomass should be contributed by rye in order to effectively suppress winter annual weeds [41].…”