NLAE Scientist Dr. Peter O’Brien is working with a group at Iowa State University that was recently awarded NIFA funding through the Foundational Knowledge of Agricultural Production Systems program. The project is entitled “Getting to the root of the corn-yield drag following cover crops: a cereal rye residue manipulation experiment” and is led by Plant Pathologist Alison Robertson and includes two members of the ISU Agronomy Department, Dr. Marshall McDaniel and Dr. Mark Licht. The team will investigate multiple causes for potential corn yield reductions following a cereal rye cover crop, including corn seedling disease and soil nitrogen dynamics, by manipulating above- and below-ground cover crop biomass. This project will also initiate a long-term residue manipulation experiment to determine corn and cereal rye biomass contributions to soil carbon accrual.