Planting Green Effects on Corn and Soybean Production

• DOI: 10.2134/agronj2018.11.0711
• Publication Date: 2019-06-27T19:52:04Z
• Authors: Heidi K. Reed; Heather D. Karsten; William S. Curran; John F. Tooker; Sjoerd W. Duiker
• Keywords: Growing season

No‐till farmers who want more from their cover crops (CCs) are delaying CC termination until the main crop is planted. Delaying can help dry wet soils and reduce erosion. This process referred to as planting green (PG). We hypothesized that PG would (i) soil at planting, but conserve moisture later in growing season; (ii) temperature; (iii) slug damage on crops; (iv) not yield. experiment was conducted Pennsylvania between 2015 2017 compare two dates: preplant killed (PK) (PG) corn ( Zea mays L.) soybean [ Glycine max (L.) Merr.]. Planting increased biomass an average of 94% 94 181% compared PK preceding soybean, respectively. Soil 7 24% drier 0.9°C cooler 8% 0.7 2.4°C PK. Slug different, lower, or higher corn, different lower Corn yield reduced impacted by yielding environments, Soybean stable across locations, affected date. concluded vulnerable losses conditions created than soybean; therefore, growers desire potential benefits risk should first consider soybean. Core Ideas refers into a living crop. dried planting. cooled influenced green; reduced.