Evaluation of Different Cover Crops in Interseeded Corn.

Cover crop adoption in the Northeast has been slow due to a number of factors. One reason is that farmers are faced with a limited window of for cover crop planting following grain harvest and before weather conditions prevent fall growth. Multiple methods have been evaluated to expand this restricted planting window including aerial seeding, underseeding and relay intercropping. All of these methods face additional challenges in no-till production systems. Researchers at Penn State developed an innovative cover crop interseeder to address establishment challenges in no-till grain production. After design of the machine was completed, potentially successful cover crops were evaluated in no-till grain. A successful interseeded cover crop may require traits that are not normally associated with post-harvest established cover crops. These species need to tolerate low light and potentially low moisture conditions while they germinate, establish, and grow. Annual ryegrass [Lolium perenne, L. spp. multiflorum (Lam.) Husnot] has been shown to be a strong candidate for interseeding in earlier studies and a trial was conducted to test different varieties for interseeding success. A Species Trial was also conducted to evaluate ten different grass and legume species. The Species Trial was conducted in Pennsylvania (PA), New York and Maryland (MD). The Annual Ryegrass variety trial was conducted only in PA and MD. Several species were shown to be better candidates for interseeding based on fall and spring biomass. These species were: medium red clover (Trifolium pretense L.), annual ryegrass, and rchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata L.). The Annual Ryegrass variety trial showed similar performance across varieties with few performing better than others. A better understanding of appropriate cover crop selection can be used in conjunction with ongoing work in herbicide trials to create recommendations for farmers to improve the effectiveness of interseeding cover crops in grains.