Cover Crop Profiles : Current & Future Options. Matt Leavitt-Albert Lea Seed Agronomist

Transcription

1 Cover Crop Profiles : Current & Future Options Matt Leavitt-Albert Lea Seed Agronomist

2 Outline! Individual Crop Species for the Upper-Midwest! Common & emerging! Benefits/Risk of cover crops! When they re seeded! Seeding rates! Cover Crop mixes! Brief word on availability

3 Broad Categories of Cover Crops Any crop that provides value to a farm system

4 Types of Cover Crops Legumes Grasses Brassicas Broadleaves

5 Legumes Rhizobium bacteria infect plant root hairs, form nodules, and biologically fix atmospheric N (peak N at flowering) **Need proper inoculants**! Hairy Vetch! Peas (spring & winter)! Clovers (red, crimson, YB, berseem)! Alfalfa! AC Greenfix (Chickling Vetch)! Soybeans/Cowpeas/Favabeans! Lentils! Lupins, Sainfoin, Common Vetch, Sunn Hemp (others) Photo Source:

6 Grasses (Grains)! Cereal Grains (Winter Rye, Oats, winter or spring Wheat, winter or spring Triticale, Barley)! Italian/Annual Ryegrass! Sorghum, Sudangrass, Sorghum/Sudan! Millets

7 Brassicas Cover Crops in the plant family brassicaceae Oilseed radish (Tillage, other varieties) Mustards (Kodiak) Canola/Forage Rape Turnips

8 Broadleaves (Non-legume)! Buckwheat! Phacelia! Flax! Others (Research stage)

9 The Challenge & (pre) Take-Home Message Successful integration of cover crops into Corn/Soybean (or Corn/Corn rotation) will take some management Being implemented/researched now! Crop insurance considerations Aerial application/highboy are good options for standing crops: Manage expectations Start with winter-killed covers as a jumping off point Cover crop mixes (i.e. species diversity) are always better but Don t rule out tried & true like winter rye Future breeding/selection work & variety trialing

10 Cover Crops Species Spotlight Cover Crops for the Midwest. What works best?

11 Grasses

12 Winter Rye (Secale cereale)! Ol reliable! Seed lbs/acre! Costs $15-$35/acre! Plant August 15 th November! Drilled, Broadcast, Aerial! PRO s! Inexpensive, adaptable, likes poor/droughty soils, winter annual, Late season/ early season forage, early spring growth, excellent nutrient scavenger! CON s! Requires spring management/tillage to control, potential planting delays, nutrient/moisture tie-up, allelopathy

13 Annual Ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum)! Seed lbs/acre! Costs $7-$15/acre! Plant July 15 th September 15 th! Broadcast, Aerial application! PRO s! Inexpensive, rapid ground cover, excellent root structure, good nutrient scavenger! CON s! More difficult to seed than oats, oats often have better growth, sensitive to depth & seed-to-soil contact, spring re-growth/survival in mild years & Roundup resistance

14 Oats (Avena sativa)! Dependable! Seed 1 ½ - 2 bu/acre! Costs $10-$20 / acre! Plant early or July 15 th September 15 th! Drilled, Broadcast, Aerial application! PRO s! Inexpensive, fool-proof, fast growing, good nutrient scavenger, excellent rooting, no spring management! CON s! Cutting/spraying to prevent seed set

15 Winter/Spring Triticale ( Triticosecale)! Seed lbs/acre! Costs $18 - $40 /acre! Plant early (spring) or- August 15 th November (winter)! Drilled, Broadcast or Aerial application! PRO s! Early spring growth, winter annual (winter), good forage quality, similar growth/characteristics as rye! CON s! Requires spring management/tillage, potential planting delays, nutrient tie-up, winter rye is slightly more hardy

16 Winter/Spring Wheat! Seed lbs/acre! Costs $16 - $40/acre! Plant early (spring) or September 1 st October 15 th (winter)! Drilled, Broadcast or Aerial application! PRO s! Early spring growth, winter annual (winter), good forage quality, similar growth/characteristics as rye (but easier to kill, slower maturing), dual-purpose potential (3 rd crop)! CON s! Requires spring management/tillage, potential planting delays, nutrient tie-up, winter rye is more hardy/adaptable,

17 Sorghum/Sudangrass (x S. bicolor var. sudanese)! Seed lbs/acre! Costs $22 - $40 / acre! Plant May 15 th July 15 th! Drilled & broadcast! PRO s! Exceptional tonnage & quality as forage,! CON s drought tolerance, very competitive with weeds, superior soil builder, loves heat, thrives on poor soils! Rotational fit?, allelopathy, lots of material to work down, nutrient/moisture tieup, prussic acid/nitrates in forage, mow/graze to keep material under control

18 Legumes

19 Hairy Vetch (Vicia villosa)! Seed lbs/acre (with small grain nurse crop)! Costs $27 - $50 /acre! Plant August 1 st September 15 th! Drilled! PRO s! Excellent N-fixation potential, good soil builder, competitive with weeds, widely adapted, scavenges P & other nutrients! CON s! Rotational issue?. Slow establishment, can winter-kill, must grow in the spring to get N/cover crop benefit, can become a weed,

20 Winter/Spring Peas (Pisum sativum)! Seed lbs/acre (spring) lbs/acre (winter)! Costs $40 - $80 /acre (spring) $25 - $45 / acre (winter)! Plant early spring (spring) ; August 1 st September 15 th (winter)! Drilled only! PRO s! Good N-fixing potential, good fit in short-rotations, good forage quality, residue breaks down quickly, moisture efficient, cold tolerant! CON s! Slow establishing, rotational fit?, seeding limitations, not tolerant of poorly drained soils,

21 Crimson Clover (Trifolium incarnatum)! Seed lbs/acre! Costs $35 - $55 /acre! Plant May 15 th September 1 st! Drilled, Broadcast, or Aerial application! PRO s! Summer annual (will winterkill), good growth, fair N-fixation potential, adaptable, good legume option for aerial application, easy to control! CON s! Not frost tolerant, growth will slow in cool weather, not suited for poorly drained soils, varied establishment (needs moisture)

22 Clovers (Mammoth Red/Medium Red/Yellow Blossom Sweet)! Seed 8 12 lbs/acre! Costs $20 - $30 /acre! Plant early spring or August 1 st August 15 th! Drilled, Broadcast! PRO s! Widely adapted, good N-fixation potential, tried & true in multiple crop rotations (w/ small grains), easy to control/kill, can be frost seeded/ underseeded, good soil builder/conditioner! CON s! Will struggle in hot/dry weather, slower to establish, rotational fit?. Spring management needed if established, time needed for optimum benefit

23 Brassicas

24 Tillage Radish (Oilseed Radish)! Seed 6 10 lbs/acre! Costs $20 - $30 /acre! Plant August 1 st September 15 th! Drilled, Broadcast, Precision Planting or Aerial application! PRO s! Excellent nutrient scavenger, mitigates soil compaction/hardpan, competitive with weeds, will winterkill (avoid fall tillage!), good establishment in dry conditions! CON s! Will struggle in hot weather, will not re-grow after cutting/grazing, not suited for spring planting

25 Turnips / Forage Rape! Seed 4 8 lbs/acre! Costs $6 - $15 /acre (Forage Rape) $10 - $20 /acre (Turnips)! Plant early spring or August 1 st September 1 st! Drilled, Broadcast or Aerial application! PRO s! Excellent forage quality, good biomass production, residue breaks down rapidly, will winterkill, excellent nutrient scavenger, thrives on varied soils! CON s! Avoid overly saturated soils, vigor can suffer in hot weather, watch N levels if grazing,

26 Broadleaves

27 Buckwheat (Fagopyrum sagittatum Gilib)! Seed lbs/acre! Costs $40 - $80 / acre! Plant May 15 th July 15 th! Drilled! PRO s! Very fast growing, can plant multiple crops per season, easy to control, good pollinator forage! CON s! Susceptible to drought, frost & excessive heat. Control crop before seed set to prevent volunteer

28 Phacelia (Phacelia tanacetifolia)! Seed 7-12 lbs/acre! Costs $40 - $70! Plant April 15 th September 1 st! Must be drilled! PRO s! Excellent soil conditioner, easy to control, residue breaks down quickly, very good pollinator forage! CON s! Seed needs darkness to germinate, rotational fit?, limited use in the Upper- Midwest

29 Cover Crop Mixes (Mix of Oats, Crimson Clover, & Tillage Radish W. of Edina, MN)

30 Cover Crop Mixes! Mix must meet your or your farmers needs! More diversity = better! Differing & complementary resource use, more versatility, mixed uses, insulation against weather! We found this to be true in a big way in 2012! No need to jump into 15-way mixes right away! Start achievable and with species that will work within rotations in question! 2-5 species are easier to manage in terms of seeding, tailoring uses! Winterkilled cover crops are easiest to manage! And it depends: sometimes the simplest choice is the best (i.e. winter rye, oats, etc.)

31 Cover Crop Mixes! Examples of mixes we pre-blend (but we also mix to order as well)! Fall Green Manure Mix 1 : Oats, Field Peas, Tillage Radish! Fall Green Manure Mix 2 : Crimson Clover, Annual Ryegrass, Tillage Radish! Fall Green Manure Mix 3 : Winter Rye, Hairy Vetch, Field Peas, Crimson Clover, Annual Ryegrass! Fall Green Manure Mix 5 : Annual Ryegrass, Tillage Radish, Turnips, Berseem Clover, Crimson Clover! TillageMax Bristol Mix : Tillage Radish, Rootmax Annual Ryegrass! TillageMax Homestead Mix : Sunn Hemp, S/S, Tillage Radish

32 Albert Lea Seed Cover Crop Seed Availability

33 Seed Availability! Mac s word of wisdom : If there was enough Tillage Radish available last year then there be enough period! No shortages for (winter rye, oats, radish, annual ryegrass,clovers, peas, vetch, etc.)! Full Line-up of Organic Cover Crop Seed/Mixes! Quality?! All of our seed (including VNS) is cleaned to rigorous specifications and is tested for germination & purity with reputable seed labs! We support efforts to follow PVP laws with cover crop seed and increase blue tag seed availability! But it does come with a cost all along the pipeline! PVP will ensure higher seed quality and will pay breeders for their work! PVP process will ultimately lead to better varieties which we need!

34 Take Away Lessons/Tips! Cover crop mixes (i.e. more species diversity) are always better than seeding single species! Higher success rates, differing resource use, etc.! But start low-risk & achievable then move towards diversity with tighter management (i.e. winter-killed covers)! Pay close attention to seeding depth, soil preparation & time seedings with rains! Goal is to maximize seed-to-soil contact! The more you treat your cover crop as the cash crop the better success you ll have

35 Thank You. Questions?