One of the best ways to get the most benefit out of cover crops is to plant them while your summer crop is still in the field – that is, to relay-plant a cover crop into a growing cash crop. That way the cover crop is well-established by harvest, with live roots and good cover going into winter. That said, accomplishing this is not always easy, and success will depend on the combination of crops, cover crops, equipment, and the weather you’re working with.
However, new technology and methods are coming online to ensure successful establishment, and innovative growers and researchers alike are forging ahead to answer the next question: can it be done without decreasing your yields?
A research article was recently published in Crops & Soils Magazine, with Mark Dempsey, CFSA Farm Services Coordinator, as an author. The research demonstrates that a cover crop can be interseeded into a corn crop with good establishment before winter, and, most notably, without decreasing yields.
The important part is striking a balance between planting early — when you risk the cover crop competing with corn and can decreasing yields — and planting late, which risks poor establishment going into winter. In this case, the ideal time to interseed cover crops into corn was when the corn had 5 leaves (V5), or 5-6 weeks after planting.
While this study was conducted in the Mid-Atlantic, and not in the Southeast, it is reasonable to expect similar results so long as the cash crop is well established (perhaps 4-6 weeks after planting). We also recognize that not all growers are producing in corn, and will need to be innovative to find ways to successfully establish, manage, and not trample interseeded cover crops. Ultimately the message is the same.
The Take-Away
If you want to prioritize soil conservation and good cover crop management, then relay cropping via interseeding is a great way to do so and can be done successfully without reducing yields if you wait for your cash crop to get a good head start.
Questions?
Reach out to Mark Dempsey, CFSA Farm Services Coordinator
Email | Phone: 919-542-2402