Triticale: A Useful Component of a Cover Crop
December 1, 2016
This overview of UNL research compares winter triticale with winter barley and explores why crop producers may want to include triticale in their cover crop blends.
Cover Crop Mixture Diversity and Function
November 30, 2016
Do cover crop mixtures perform better than monoculture plantings? This overview looks at a research study using various plantings of 18 cover crop species, both in monoculture and combination plantings, to examine biomass production as well as the effect of the different plantings on weed suppression, soil nutrient retention, or soil microbial biomass.
Cover Crop Mixtures: Effects of Diversity and Termination Method on Weeds, Soil, and Crop Yield
November 30, 2016
Overview of two experiments conducted in eastern Nebraska to quantify the productivity and agronomic effects of diverse cover crop mixtures and to determine how several termination methods might alter those effects.
Impact of Cover Crops on Corn and Soybean Yield in Nebraska On-Farm Research
November 29, 2016
A review of studies in the Nebraska On-Farm Research Network on the impacts of cover crops on subsequent corn and soybean yields at various locations in Nebraska.
Implementation of Cover Crops in Corn and Soybean Systems in Nebraska
November 29, 2016
A short review of cover crop research conducted at four University of Nebraska research fields (two irrigated, two dryland) to study the feasibility and impact of winter cover cropping on soil quality, soil water, and crop yields in corn-soybean systems. Objectives were to quantify cover crop emergence, fall and spring biomass production, soil water changes, soil chemical and physical property changes, and crop yields.
Finding the Balance Between Corn Yield and Cover Crop Biomass
November 29, 2016
Cover crops can provide either ecosystem services or forage benefits but understanding how they fit in cropping systems is still limited. This study assessed the effects of planting date (early and late), plant population (low, average, and high) and corn maturity (80 to 115 days relative maturity) on corn yield.
Interseeding Cover Crops into Corn
November 29, 2016
This cover crop study looked at the effect on corn yield and cover crop biomass production from interseeding cover crops at various points in the corn production cycle.
Student Research: Does the Grazing of Cover Crops by Cattle Compact Soil?
November 2, 2016
Undergraduate Rebecca Clay shares the results of her study on whether grazing cover crops contributed to soil compaction at four sites in west central and eastern Nebraska. Clay, an undergraduate student in the Iowa State University Department of Agronomy, conducted the study as part of a UNL Research and Extension Experiential Learning Fellowship in summer 2016.