by Mark Dempsey, CFSA Farm Services Manager | Thursday, Dec. 16, 2021 —
Winter cover crops approaching termination time
This fall, we completed the second year of CFSA’s organic no-till project determining production costs, yields, profitability, and scalability of growing no-till butternut squash after a cereal rye cover crop. We used several cover crop and weed management methods that were implemented using a tractor, walk-behind tractor, or done manually.
If you aren’t familiar with cover crop-based organic no-till, the premise is to grow a large cover crop, such as rye, lay it down as a mulch by crimping or mowing, plant your cash crop into it, and rely on the cover crop mulch to suppress weeds. It is effectively a “grow your own mulch” production system. But many questions remain about the best termination method to kill the cover crop, how well the resulting mulch suppresses weeds, and the scale at which it makes financial sense to use a tractor, a walk-behind tractor, or manual methods.
For a thorough explanation of our research questions, methods, and first-year results, see our write-up from earlier this year.