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Cowpeas Provide Elegant Solution to Awkward Niche PARTRIDGE, Kan.—Cowpeas fill a rotational decomposition. He runs an S-tine field cultivator 1 to 2 inches deep just before planting rough spot between milo (grain sorghum) and wheat for Jim French, who farms about 640 wheat to set back fall weeds, targeting a 20 acres near Partridge, Kan. to 25 percent residue cover. The cowpeas “I miss almost a full season after we take improve rainfall infiltration and the overall off the milo in late October or November until ability of the soil to hold moisture. we plant wheat the following October,” says French observes that the timing of rainfall French.“Some people use cash crops such as after cowpea planting largely determines the oats or soybeans. But with cowpeas, I get wind weediness of the cover crop.“If I get a week erosion control, add organic matter to improve to 10 days of dry weather after I plant into soil tilth, save on fertilizer and suppress weeds moisture, the cowpeas will out-compete the for the wheat crop. Plus I have the options of weeds. But if I get rain a few days after haying or grazing.” planting, they’ll be weedy.” He chisel plows the milo stubble in late French manages his legumes to stay in April, disks in May and field cultivates just compliance with new USDA farm program before planting about the first week of provisions.The Freedom to Farm Act allows June. He drills 30 to 40 lb./A of CHINESE RED vegetables used as green manure, haying or cowpeas 1 to 2 inches deep when soil grazing to be planted on program acres, but temperature reaches 70 F. Growth is rapid, prohibits planting vegetables for seed harvest and by early August he kills the cowpeas by on those acres. The rules list cowpeas as a making hay, having his cattle graze them off vegetable, even though different cultivars are or by incorporating them for maximum soil used for culinary production. Use of grain benefit. legumes such as lentils, mung beans and dry French says cowpeas usually produce peas (including Austrian winter peas) is not about 90 to 120 lb. N/A—relatively modest for restricted by the act, opening flexible rotation a legume cover—but he feels his soil greatly options. benefits from the residue, which measured French is working with Rhonda Janke of 8,000 lb./A in one of his better fields. He disks Kansas State University to define soil health the sprawling, leafy legume once, then does a more precisely. He can tell that covers improve shallow chisel plowing to stop growth and the “flow” of his soil, and he is studying root save moisture. Breakdown of the somewhat growth after covers. But he feels her work tough stems depends on moisture. measuring enzymes and carbon dioxide l When he leaves all the cowpea biomass evels will give farmers new ways to evaluate in the field, he disks a second time to speed microbial activity and overall “soil health.” and rootknot nematode levels in greenhouse experiments (351). Despite some research (351) showing an increased nematode risk after cowpeas, California farmers report no such problem (256). Crop Systems Cowpeas’ heat-loving nature makes them an ideal mid-summer replenisher of soil organic matter and mineralizable nitrogen. Cowpeas set pods over a period of several weeks. Viny varieties continue to increase dry matter yields during that time. A mix of 15 lb. cowpeas and 30 lb. buckwheat/A makes it possible to incorporate the cover crop in just six weeks while still providing some nitrogen. Replacing 10 percent of the normal cowpea seeding rate with a fast-growing, 98 MANAGING COVER CROPS PROFITABLY
drought-tolerant sorghum-sudangrass hybrid increases dry matter production and helps support the cowpea plants for mowing (256). Cowpeas also can be seeded with other tall annual crops such as pearl millet (see Up-and-Coming Cover Crops, p. 158). Overseeding cowpeas into nearly mature spring broccoli in June in Zones 5 and 6 of the Northeast suppresses weeds while improving soil (302). Planting cowpeas in late June or early July in the upper Midwest after spring canning peas provides green manure or an emergency forage crop (351). Cowpeas can fill a midsummer fallow niche in inland North Carolina between spring and summer vegetable crops. A mix of IRON AND CLAY cowpeas (50 lb./A) and German millet (15 lb./A) planted in late June can be killed mechanically before no-till transplanted fall broccoli.In several years of screening trials at the same sites, cowpea dry matter (3,780 lb./A) out yielded soybeans (3,540 lb. DM/A), but plots of sesbania (Sesbania exaltata) had top yields at about 5,000 lb. DM/A (69). COMPARATIVE NOTES Cowpeas are more drought tolerant than soybeans, but less tolerant of waterlogging (302) and Unlike many grain legumes, cowpeas can leave a net N gain even if seeds are harvested. frost (211). Sown in July, the cowpea canopy closed more rapidly and suppressed weeds better than lespedeza (Lespedeza cuneata), American jointvetch (Aeschynomene americana), sesbania and alyceclover (Alysicarpus spp.), the other warm-season legumes tested (351). Cowpeas perform better than clovers and alfalfa on poor or acid soils. Cowpea residue breaks down faster than white sweetclover (302) but not as fast as Austrian winter peas. Warm-season alternatives to cowpeas include two crops that retain some cowpea benefits. Buckwheat provides good beneficial habitat and weed control without attracting stinkbugs. Velvetbeans (Mucuna deeringiana) provide nitrogen, soil protection and late-season forage in hot, long-season areas. They do not attract stinkbugs and are resistant to nematodes (81, 263). SEED Cultivars. See Cultivars for diverse niches (p. 96). Seed sources. Adams-Briscoe, Frazier, Lohse Mill, Mangelsdorf, Peaceful Valley and Pennington. See Seed Suppliers (p. 166). COWPEAS 99
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$19.00 Managing Cover Crops Profita
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SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE NETWORK THE
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This book represent
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FOREWORD Cover crops slow erosion,
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HOW TO USE THIS BOOK Think of this
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BENEFITS OF COVER CROPS Cover crops
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decompose quickly, especially in wa
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Expect excessive field traffic arou
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5. Settle for the Best Available Co
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ORGANIC MATTER ADDITIONS The benefi
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Cover Crops Can Stabilize Your Soil
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generally a good idea to kill a leg
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• For perennial legumes that have
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MANAGING PESTS WITH COVER CROPS By
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The farmers get weed control by fla
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insects. This approach has been use
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• Subterranean Clover (Trifolium
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does no direct tillage, but aggress
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eplace the cover crop before beans,
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as buckwheat, cowpeas, sorghum-suda
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the couple harrows every two to thr
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Start Where You Are In many instanc
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INTRODUCTION TO CHARTS The four com
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pH Preferred. The pH range in which
Page 49 and 50: Chart 1 TOP REGIONAL COVER CROP SPE
Page 51 and 52: Chart 2 PERFORMANCE AND ROLES conti
Page 53 and 54: Chart 3B PLANTING Cost Cost/A Inoc.
Page 55 and 56: Chart 4B POTENTIAL DISADVANTAGES Sp
Page 57 and 58: ANNUAL RYEGRASS Lolium multiflorum
Page 59 and 60: prolonged heat, cold or drought.Tha
Page 61 and 62: crop for establishing a forage or l
Page 63 and 64: arley plants from fungus, armyworm
Page 65 and 66: can increase the fertilizer replace
Page 67 and 68: cultural and local considerations t
Page 69 and 70: (339), and by 99 percent in a Calif
Page 71 and 72: Killing & Controlling Nutrient avai
Page 73 and 74: ye/vetch/crimson clover,for example
Page 75 and 76: • In the Corn Belt and northern U
Page 77 and 78: Wheat Offers High-Value Weed Contro
Page 79 and 80: BUCKWHEAT Fagopyrum esculentum Type
Page 81 and 82: Rotations Buckwheat is used most co
Page 83 and 84: plants fractured subsoil compaction
Page 85 and 86: press some species of nematodes. Sp
Page 87 and 88: Incorporated sorghum-sudangrass res
Page 89 and 90: lodge soil particles. Sunlight is u
Page 91 and 92: Crimson-Berseem Clover Combo Works
Page 93 and 94: in water-use efficiency in the tria
Page 95 and 96: Microorganisms mineralize, or conve
Page 97 and 98: COWPEAS Vigna unguiculata Also call
Page 99: control if you go with rows, using
Page 103 and 104: several winter annual legumes that
Page 105 and 106: In Ohio, crimson clover mixed with
Page 107 and 108: FIELD PEAS Pisum sativum subsp. arv
Page 109 and 110: Chill tolerant. Austrian winter pea
Page 111 and 112: In a “Flexible Green Manure” cr
Page 113 and 114: values from 13 to 34,but were gener
Page 115 and 116: year Maryland study that also inclu
Page 117 and 118: possible, but remember that hairy v
Page 119 and 120: especially in winter grains. With w
Page 121 and 122: less biomass than overwintering sta
Page 123 and 124: Jess Counts on GEORGE for N and Org
Page 125 and 126: after mid-April planting in souther
Page 127 and 128: second cutting. Regrowth comes from
Page 129 and 130: RED CLOVER Trifolium pratense Also
Page 131 and 132: MANAGEMENT Establishment & Fieldwor
Page 133 and 134: it function more like a biennial th
Page 135 and 136: Subclover cultivars often are descr
Page 137 and 138: trample in the seed. Subclover ofte
Page 139 and 140: Crop Systems Interseeded with wheat
Page 141 and 142: SWEETCLOVERS Yellow sweetclover (Me
Page 143 and 144: difficult to establish annual cover
Page 145 and 146: Spring seeding provides yellow swee
Page 147 and 148: enhances soil fertility, texture an
Page 149 and 150: WHITE CLOVER Trifolium repens Also
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for several freeze-thaw cycles. Mak
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COMPARATIVE NOTES • White clover
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Fall planting. Most growers seed at
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combining with a belt-type rubber p
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Then seed the remainder while walki
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screening, a number of farmers have
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the seed is relatively expensive. B
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Dyer, David A. 1998. Conservation L
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OTHER RESOURCES Cover Crops On The
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Cal/West Seeds Box 1428 Woodland, C
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Pick Seed Canada P.O. Box 304 1 Gre
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SARE Northeast Region Office Univer
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APPENDIX F REGIONAL EXPERTS These i
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David W. Wolfe Cornell University 1
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Bob Burdette Southern Seed Certific
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Shiou Kuo Washington State Universi
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20 Bird, George. 1997. Personal com
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59 Clark,A.J. 1993. Managing hairy
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102 Fernholz, Carmen. 1997. Persona
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141 Helm, J.L. and Dwain Meyer. 199
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186 Koume, C.N. et al. 1988. Screen
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226 Mohler, Charles L. 1994.A livin
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267 Plumer, Mike. 1997. Personal co
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309 Shrestha,A. et al. 1996.“Annu
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352 Varco, J.J., J.O. Sanford and J
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Bulk Discounts: Except as indicated
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INDEX A Alfalfa, 10, 42, 84, 88, 94
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performance and roles, 48-49 planti
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sorghum-sudangrass hybrids, 85 subt
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subterranean clovers, 133, 137 swee
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comparative notes, 71 crop systems,
Page 213 and 214:
crimson clover for, 102, 103 crop r
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