Monoculture Annual Crops & Tillage Tough on the Soil. Integrating Cover Crops into the Northern Corn Silage System

Transcription

1 Integrating Cover Crops into the Northern Corn Silage System Monoculture Annual Crops & Tillage Tough on the Soil Dr. Heather Darby University of Vermont Extension Cover Crops Plants seeded into agricultural fields, whether within or outside of the regular growing season with the primary purpose of improving or maintaining ecosystem quality. Older definitions stated s of no economic value! Crop Rotation A common farming practice where different series of crops are planted in the same area each sequential season. Today may also include crops grown in the off-season (s). 1

2 Trends in Extreme Precipitation Increase in the number of 2 rainfalls per year from 1958 to 2011 Better Yields Yield (tons/acre) ton corn silage yield increase A B 16 CC WCCC 2

3 What is the value of Your topsoil? Why are YOU just giving it away? GOING RATE: $36 per ton FOR TOP SOIL T = 3 TO 5 TONS/ACRE - I ESTIMATE I WAS LOSING 5 TONS MINIMUM ANNUALLY 1 TON OF TOPSOIL HAS 2.3 LBS OF NITROGEN AND 1 LB OF PHOSPHOROUS. N=$.63/LB AND P=$.64/LB. FERTILIZER VALUE/TON OF SOIL LOSS IS $2.10/TON I WAS LOSING $38.10/TON $38.10 X (T IS) 5 = $190.50/ACRE LOSSED ON MY 40 ACRE FIELD I WAS LOSING $7,620/YEAR Soil Quality Cropping System Soil Quality Treatment Organic Water stable Active Potentially Matter aggregation carbon mineralizable N % % mg kg -1 ug N g -1 d soil No 4.46a 22.1b 676b 11.1a Cover crop 4.42a 39.0a 701a 12.3a Corn cropping system CC NC NT WCCC PF Aggregate stability % Available water capacity (m/m) Surface hardness psi Organic matter % 23.9d 0.24a 145b 3.4b 45.7bc 0.25a 153b 4.0b 50.5ab 0.24a 158b 3.7b 38.7c 0.21b 123c 3.6b 56.2a 0.25a 196a 4.2a 3

4 Soil Moisture comparison 60 percent soil moisture Soil Moisture (%)* Cover Crop Soil Moisture (%)* No Cover Crop 0 4/24/2007 4/26/2007 4/28/2007 4/30/2007 5/2/2007 5/4/2007 5/6/2007 date Cover Crop Termination 12 Month Cropping System for CoverCropping Harvest forage crop 45 lbs N per acre Or 1-2 tons DM 19 to 20% CP 45 lbs N per acre? Update Terminate Plant Top Nutrient Cover Crop Corn Dress/side Management 94 dress Plan RM interseed January February March April May June July Obtain seed blends for Design plan Assess what fields rotations need to be plan for made, can reduced fields. tillage be part of the Assess plan. Start thinking status of about where cover stand crops and other soil planted last building practices year could be implemented. Inter seed mix Harvest corn August September October November December Fall planting of Spread Manure / soil test Corn Seed Fertilizer prepurchase Spread manure on to 6-8 inch established cover crop. Manure injection on cover cropped fields also works well. 4

5 12 Month Cropping System for CoverCropping Spread Manure / soil test Plant Corn 95 RM Harvest corn Harvest Dates of Corn 4-Oct 29-Sep January February March April May June July August September October November December 24-Sep Interseed planting of Interseed planting of Fall planting of 19-Sep 14-Sep 9-Sep Planting Date May 22 Planting Date May 16 September 7 September 17 October 2 Cover Crop Planting Spread Manure / soil test Plant Corn 95 RM Harvest corn January February March April May June July August September October November December Interseed planting of Interseed planting of Fall planting of 5

6 Cultivation V4 V6 Convenient Banding Seed to soil contact Retooled rotary hoe. Source: w.notillfarmer.c om/ articles/519 1 retooledrotary hoeinterseedscover Drill Interseeders (V4 V8) Penn State Interseeder 6

7 High Clearance (V4 Harvest) Cost effective Seed to soil Weather Late Season Interseeding Aerial Application Quick Seed to soil Weather 7

8 Drills Slow Summary Cover Crop Establishment Variety of methods available regionally Requires proper plans and contingency plans, flexibility in implementation, idea of hitting windows of opportunity Need to know why you are doing it to overcome the challenges associated with this agronomic practice. Herbicides, corn planting rates and plant architecture important Seed to soil contact reduces risk of failure in most cases. Incorporation or seed to soil contact is critical 8

9 Interseeded Cover crops 1200 Dry matter yield (lbs ac -1 ) November 6, 2013 b a Annual ryegrass Cover crop treatment Radish 9

10 Cover Crop Mixes Planting Dates Everleaf Oats and Groundhog Radish Winter Rye, Milvus Clover, T Raptor Brassica Soil Builder: TriCal Triticale, MOI and KB Supreme Ryegrass, Crimson Clover, Hairy Vetch, Daikon Radish Prince Brand Rye Grass and Milvus Clover Indy Mix: Tillage Root Max Ryegrass, Crimson Clover, Tillage Radish Corn varieties, planted 5-May Relative maturity 110 day 96 day 85 day Yield at 65% mst Corn harvest Cover crop planting Name Tons/acre Date Date Mycogen TMF2R Sept 19-June Mycogen TMF2Q Sept 16-Sept Mycogen TMF2H Sept 4-Sept Cover Crop Dry Matter Yield 85 Day Corn Fria ryegrass, tillage radish * Cover Crop Species Selection Dry matter yield lbs/acre Prince ryegrass, clover Wheat, clover TriCal, brassica * SoilBuilder Oats, groundhog radish Indy Mix * Cover crop mix * Rye, clover, brassica * Oats, clover, Vivant radish 10

11 Tillage Radish Tillage Radish Planting Soil Leaf Root Root date cover biomass biomass length % lbs lbs in 18-Aug a 23.9a 25-Aug b 20.7a 2-Sep c 16.9b 10-Sep d 14.7b Seed Yield Length Diameter Cover rate ton/acre in in % One month delay in planting results in one week delay in heading date (boot stage). Tillers can account for 60% of yields! 11

12 Fall Seeding Strategy Soil Moisture comparison 12 Month Cropping System for CoverCropping Harvest forage crop Terminate Plant Harvest Cover Crop Corn corn 94 RM August September October November December January February March April May June July percent soil moisture Soil Moisture (%)* Cover Crop Soil Moisture (%)* No Cover Crop 0 4/24/2007 4/26/2007 4/28/2007 4/30/2007 5/2/2007 5/4/2007 5/6/2007 date 12

13 60 58 Soil Temperature comparison Soil Temperature (degrees F) Cover Crop Cover Crop Termination Soil Temperature Temperature (degrees F) (degrees F) No Cover Crop 45 lbs N per acre Or 2 tons DM 45 lbs N per acre? to 20% CP 46 4/24/2007 4/26/2007 4/28/2007 4/30/2007 5/2/2007 5/4/2007 5/6/2007 date Soil Quality Treatment Organic Water stable Active Potentially Matter aggregation carbon mineralizable N lbs/acre % % mg kg -1 ug N g -1 d soil No 4.46a 61.4b 676b 11.1a Cover crop 4.42a 63.2a 701a 12.3a 13

14 Soil Nitrate N a Soil NO 3 (mg kg -1 ) b b Radish Annual ryegrass Control Cover crop treatment Double Cropping Boot stage DM yield (lbs acre) Winter Grain Forages, 2014 DM Yield Date ab cd cd cd bc de e a 20 Jun 15 Jun 10 Jun 5 Jun 31 May 26 May 21 May 16 May Boot stage harvest date Variety 14