The Impact of Organic Crop Rotations and Ecological Weed Management Strategies on Soil Quality.

The use of cover crops within organically managed systems is a common practice in order to suppress weed populations and improve various soil biological, chemical, and physical properties. Our objectives were to evaluate the impacts of several cover crops on soil quality in an organic system in a 5 year study located in Ithaca, NE by measuring several soil quality parameters and by running the Soil Management Assessment Framework (SMAF) model. The cover crop treatments in this study were sunn hemp (Crotalaria juncea), nitro radish (Raphanus sativus) and turnip (Brassica rapa), red clover (Trifolium pratense), a mixture of mustards species (Brassica spp.), all cover crop options, and no cover crops. The soil quality indicators measured were macroaggregate stability, bulk density, β-glucosidase activity, electrical conductivity, soil test potassium, soil test phosphorous, total organic carbon and soil microbial biomass. Understanding how cover crops and organically managed systems impact soil quality may serve to encourage producers in adopting organic practices.