Cover Crops

Terminating a Cereal Rye Cover Crop – Things to Consider

April 13, 2017

Fall-planted cereal rye is increasingly used as a cover crop in corn and soybean cropping systems in Nebraska. The authors address control of cereal rye through herbicide and mechanical measures and include a USDA NRCS map of recommended termination deadlines.

Triticale cover crop in an existing University of Nebraska-Lincoln trial.

Nebraska Part of National Research Initiative to Improve Cover Crops

March 22, 2017

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln is part of a $6.6 million research initiative to promote soil health through the development and adoption of new cover crops across the United States. The initiative was launched today by the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research and The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, which is the lead institution.

Figure 1. Cover crops planted into corn residue (left) and aerial seeded into soybean residue. (Photos by Gary Lesoing)

Nebraska Cover Crop Conference Feb. 14

January 25, 2017

Interested in adding cover crops to your corn-soybean rotation, but don’t know where to start? Or maybe you’re already using cover crops and would like to talk with others about some challenges you faced.

Is Nitrogen Fixation Oversold with Legume Cover Crops?

December 16, 2016

One expected benefit of using legumes as a cover crop is to provide a source of nitrogen (N) to the cropping system. However, when legumes are included in mixtures with grasses and broadleaves for a relatively short growing period, the amount of actual fixed N may be relatively low.

Small Grain Annual Forages Following Soybean Production

December 2, 2016

This research brief looks at a three-year grazing trial addressing the question of what small grain is most suitable to plant after soybean to offer the best opportunity for grazing.

Figure 1. Steers grazing a mix of oats, turnips and radishes in mid-December. At this point in Experiment 4 there was still 1.5 ton dry matter per acre and calves grazed until mid-January when the weather ended grazing due to the forage being iced to the ground.

Value of Oats and Brassicas for Fall Forage

December 1, 2016

An overview of five experiments evaluating the use of winter-sensitive, cool-season species planted in mid-August after wheat or early September after corn silage harvest for grazing of fall-weaned calves during November and December.

Figure 1. In these research trials in western Nebraska winter triticale was found to offer several advantages over winter barley as a cover crop.

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.

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