Corn and Switchgrass Companion Cropping.

With the world’s population growing and the demand for food and fuel increasing, more food and fuel will be expected from existing land resource.  With this reason, some land will be converted to dedicated energy crop production. However, perennial energy crop requires at least one year of establishment period. Taking land out of production for one year to allow for the establishment of perennial bioenergy feedstocks without any income could be an important decision fpr some producers.   Understanding the effects of companion cropping on yield loss as well as establishment success will help transition from conventional crops to a more diverse commodity system. This study examines corn as a companion crop at four seeding rates (0, 48000, 59000, 69000 plants ha^-1) with switchgrass and the use of three fertility rates (0, 112, and 224 kg N ha^-1) during the establishment year.   This study indicates that the nitrogen rate was the only significant factor on corn grain yield.  For switchgrass biomass harvests following establishment year, there was significance in yield between the control (switchgrass only) and the companion cropped plots.  There were no effects carried over from the corn seeding rates or the corn nitrogen rates that were significant on the switchgrass plots.  This study demonstrates that companion cropping of corn may be a useful management practice to minimize establishment cost for perennial energy crops such as switchgrass.