Integrating Cover Crops into Specialty

Crops Production

Cary L. Rivard, Ph.D.

Dept of Horticulture
Kansas State University

Overview
Cover Crops for Vegetable Production
Benefits of cover crops

Challenges
Tools

Cover Crops for KS

High Tunnels

No-till Research

Cover Crops
Cover Crops Have Numerous Benefits
Also known a green manures, cover crops are extremely
important for soil health
Organic matter
Soil microbial health

Suppress Weeds
Add / Recover nitrogen
Highly-leachable N03
Legume cover crops fix N

Can be used as mulch

No-till or strip-tillage

Can reduce excess nutrients (P)

Reduce soil erosion

Benefits of Cover Crops

Nitrogen Recovery / Deposition
NO3 Recovery

Lbs biomass
x

Legume cover crops

Calculated lbs/A N
Legumes
3.5-4% (young tissue)
3-3.5% (flowering)

Grasses
2-3% (young tissue)
1.5-2.5% (flowering)

Estimated % N
x
50% Availability
Total Nitrogen

Benefits of Cover Crops

Biomass (lbs/acre)

Available N

C:N
Rye

Vetch

(lbs/acre)

High Tunnel

3749.4

329.4

9.8

83.2

Field

721.8

1589.1

8.5

54.2

Tillage releases soil carbon

Benefits of Cover Crops

Reduced Weed Seed Bank
Weed seed
germination
Light
Soil disturbance

Cover crops
Competition

Life cycle interruption

Reduced seed bank

Benefits of Cover Crops

Grow Your Own Mulch
Cover crop residues
serve as mulch
Weed management
Soil moisture
Crop health and
quality

Source of soil carbon

Source of nitrogen
Low Risk

Utilize Cover Crops to Attract Beneficials and Pollinators

Clover Cover Crop used as living mulch

Annual Rye in Row Middles (Fall-Spring)

Cover Crop used as wind breaks

Challenges of Cover Crops

Challenges exist with cover crops
Managing cover crop
biomass
Equipment
Disease and pest
pressure
Production logistics
Have a CC plan!
Southern Blight on Tomato

Re-growth

Managing Cover Crop Biomass Can be a Challenge

Planning for Cover Crops

Taken from: The New Organic Grower, Eliot Coleman

Planning for Cover Crops

A few scenarios for planning your rotation
Warm-Season Vegetables
Winter CC

Cash (Vegetable) Crops

Winter CC

Cool-Season Vegetables
Fall Cash Crops

Summer Cover Crops

Fall Cash Crops

Fall Cover Crops

Winter CC

Cash (short) Crops

Fall CC

Winter CC

Getting Started
Tools Required for Cover Crops
Overhead Irrigation
Aluminum solid set
Big Gun sprinkler

Managing cover crops

Scythe
Pole trimmer (small)
Flail mower
Roller crimper (large)
Herbicides ??

Perfecta II Field Cultivator

Video

Winter Cover Crops

Annual Grasses - Rye, Wheat, Oats, etc.
High biomass
Rye is highest
Straw production

Nitrogen recovery
Weed competition
Allelopathy (Rye)

Killing the crop

Early crops

Plant Sept 1 Nov 15

Crop Winter Rye

Winter Cover Crops

Oats

Winter Wheat

Winter Cover Crops

Annual Legumes
Fix Nitrogen
Inoculant

Clovers
Vetch
Winter peas
Easier to kill

Less biomass (straw)

Crimson Clover (Annual)

Winter Cover Crops

Hairy Vetch

Austrian Winter Pea

Fall Cover Crops

Tillage Radish and Other Brassicas

Tillage Radish

Summer Cover Crops

Annual Grasses Sorghum, Millet, Spring Oats
High Biomass
Nitrogen recovery
Weed competition
Mulch / OM production

Short duration
Millet (45 days)

Can be particularly
difficult to kill
Sorghum-Sudan
Foxtail Millet

Summer Cover Crops

Japanese Millet

Sorghum-Sudan Grass

Summer Cover Crops

Annual Summer Legumes
Fix Nitrogen
Inoculant

Soybean
Forage soybean
Biomass

Berseem Clover
Pollinators

Cowpea
Very drought tolerant
Cowpeas

Summer Cover Crops

Forage Soybeans

Berseem Clover

Summer Cover Crops

Other Annual Summer Cover Crops

Buckwheat

Sunn Hemp

Cover Crops in Tunnels

Cover Crops are important in high tunnels
Need to retain soil quality

Challenges
Irrigation
Real Estate

Short-window crops

Mowing down the crop

Moveable tunnels

Summary
Cover Crops benefit the soil and the farm
Benefit to soil:

Microbial health and structure

Weed seed bank

Carbon / organic Matter

Benefit to crops:

Better yield and stability

N fertilizer

Weed management

Have a management plan for cover crops

No-Till Pumpkin Research

Evaluation of cover crops for NT Pumpkins
C.L. Rivard, M. Kennelly, J.
Griffin
John C. Pair Hort. Center
Richard Ryer

KCSAAC Grant
Spring Cover Crops

Spring Cover Crops

B
B

Planting in Cover Crop Residue

Harvesting Pumpkins at JCP

C
BC
AB
AB

AB

AB
A

AB

No-Till NRCS CIG Project

NRCS Conservation Innovation Grant Program
Rivard, C.L., M. Kennelly, J. Griffin,
R. Janke, D. Presley, P. Tomlinson,
R. Wynia (NRCS), M. Bates (MU)
Demonstrate no-till systems
Pumpkin, sweet corn, snap bean
Equipment (planter) experience

4 replicated trials at KSU/NRCS

locations
16 demonstration trials at
commercial farms (2014-15)

= 1 - Conventional Tillage
= 2 Winter Rye
= 3 Winter Rye / Pea
= 4 Winter Rye / Hairy Vetch
= 5 Winter Rye / Tillage Radish

50

60

= 6 Rye / Vetch / Radish

= 7 Spring Oats
= 8 Spring Oats / Pea

30

Soil Quality Data

Collection

30

60

280

Not to scale. Each plot will contain three (50) rows.

Planting Spring CC at Olathe

Roller Crimper Video

Winter CC at Wichita

Spring Oats in Manhattan

Planting Beans and Corn

2013 No-Till Pumpkin Trials

Percent Weed Coverage (%)

100

Wichita

90

Olathe

80
70
60
50

36.7

40

BC

30
20
10

AB
A

Conv. Winter
Tillage
Rye

Rye /
Pea

Rye /
Rye /
Rye / Spring
Vetch Raddish Vetch / Oats
Raddish

Oats /
Pea

2013 No-Till Pumpkin Trial at JCP Center

Total Estimated Fruit Yield (lbs/plot)

1800
1600

D
CD
BCD

1400

BCD
BC

BCD

1200

1000
800

600

400
200

Conv. Winter
Tillage
Rye

Rye /
Pea

Rye / Rye /
Rye / Spring
Vetch Raddish Vetch / Oats
Raddish

Oats /
Pea

2013 No-Till Pumpkin Trial at JCP Center

90

Average Fruit Number (#/plot)

80
70

CD
BCD

BCD

BCD

BC

60

AB

50

40
30
20

10
0

Conv. Winter
Tillage
Rye

Rye /
Pea

Rye /
Rye /
Rye / Spring
Vetch Raddish Vetch / Oats
Raddish

Oats /
Pea

2013 No-Till Pumpkin Trial at JCP Center

Average Fruit Weight (lbs/fruit)

90
80
70

B
B

60

50

40
30
20

10
0

Conv. Winter
Tillage
Rye

Rye /
Pea

Rye /
Rye /
Rye / Spring
Vetch Raddish Vetch / Oats
Raddish

Oats /
Pea

Preliminary Conclusions
No-Till Pumpkins in Kansas
Cover crop selection and
cultivation is very
important
The jury is still out on
spring cover crops

Hairy vetch can be hard

on planters
Nitrogen management is a
critical component to
successful NT systems

QUESTIONS ??