Managing Cover Crops Profitably - Valley Crops Home
Managing Cover Crops Profitably - Valley Crops Home
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