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Managing Cover Crops Profitably - Valley Crops Home

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Chart 2<br />

PERFORMANCE AND ROLES continued<br />

Lasting<br />

Harvest Cash Crop<br />

Species Residue 1 Duration 2 Value 3 Interseed 4 Comments<br />

F* S*<br />

N O N L E G U M E S<br />

L E G U M E S<br />

Annual ryegrass<br />

Barley<br />

Oats<br />

Rye<br />

Wheat<br />

Buckwheat<br />

Sorghum–sudangrass<br />

Berseem clover<br />

Cowpeas<br />

Crimson clover<br />

Field peas<br />

Hairy vetch<br />

Medics<br />

Red clover<br />

Subterranean clover<br />

Sweetclovers<br />

White clover<br />

Woollypod vetch<br />

Heavy N and H20 user; cutting boosts<br />

dry matter significantly.<br />

Tolerates moderately alkaline conditions but<br />

does poorly in acid soil < pH 6.0.<br />

Prone to lodging in N-rich soil.<br />

Tolerates triazine herbicides.<br />

Heavy N and H20 user in spring.<br />

Summer smother crop; breaks down quickly.<br />

Mid-season cutting increases root penetration.<br />

Very flexible cover crop, green manure, forage.<br />

Season length, habit vary by cultivar.<br />

Established easily, grows quickly if planted early<br />

in fall; matures early in spring.<br />

Biomass breaks down quickly.<br />

Bi-culture with small grain expands seasonal<br />

adaptability.<br />

Use annual medics for interseeding.<br />

Excellent forage, easily established; widely adapted.<br />

Strong seedlings, quick to nodulate.<br />

Tall stalks, deep roots in second year.<br />

Persistent after first year.<br />

Reseeds poorly if mowed within 2 months of<br />

seeddrop; overgrazing can be toxic.<br />

1 Lasting Residue—Rates how long the killed residue remains on the surface.<br />

2 Duration—Length of vegetative stage.<br />

3 Harvest Value—Economic value as a forage (F) or as seed (S) or grain.<br />

4 Cash Crop Interseed—Rates how well the cover crop<br />

will perform with an appropriate companion crop.<br />

=Poor; =Fair; =Good; =Very Good; =Excellent<br />

CHARTS 49

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