Educators shared information with local growers on current, ongoing agronomy research in southern Illinois, including
cover crop and nutrient management trials, nitrogen management in corn and milo, and drilled soybean population.
He said semi-permanent
cover crop field margins have been established at Balgonie - an entirely arable unit - in a bid to demonstrate how wildlife can be boosted with minimal effort from farmers and land managers.
In comparison to fallow control plots,
cover crop treatments reduced horseweed density at the time of a pre-plant, burndown herbicide application by 52 per cent in the first year and 86 per cent in the next.
Two
cover crop studies were conducted at IREC -- a study begun in 2014 that evaluated mid-summer
cover crops and a study begun in 2016 that evaluated
cover crops planted in spring, mid-summer and fall.
Four treatment combinations were arranged in a 2 ' 2 factorial design and included: (1)
cover crop, or (2)
cover crop + insecticide, and (3) no
cover crop, or (4) no
cover crop + insecticide.
This year was no different, except that I'm married to a person with a
cover crop passion, coupled with a powerful drive to build soil and reap its benefits.
Removing dead plants, planting a
cover crop, and mulching benefits the next season's garden.
About 50% P and 25% K were applied at
cover crop seeding, and were associated with the application of 1.5t [ha.sup.-1] dolomitic limestone.
Cover crop is a term applied to any number of species that farmers, ranchers, and landowners may plant to help manage soil erosion and fertility, preserve moisture content, and control weeds and diseases.
Cotton growers in Alabama often use cereal rye as a
cover crop, killing it when it starts to produce seeds.
Sunn hemp is a leguminous species widely used as
cover crop because it has high phytomass production and increased accumulation of nitrogen (Torres et al., 2008), also showing a taproot system and, therefore, able to absorb nutrients from deeper layers, favoring the decompaction of the soil.