Cover crop termination methods and custom residue manager effects on collard production

Authors: Kichler, Corey; Kornecki, Ted; Torbert, Henry - Allen; Watts, Dexter; PRASAD, RISHI - Auburn University

Submitted to: Agronomy
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/9/2023
Publication Date: 10/11/2023
Citation: Kichler, C.M., Kornecki, T.S., Torbert III, H.A., Watts, D.B., Prasad, R. 2023. Cover crop termination methods and custom residue manager effects on collard production. Agronomy. 13:2595. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13102595.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13102595

Interpretive Summary: Farmers are looking for ways to grow crops that are more natural and better for the environment. Cover crops are plants grown with the purpose of improving growing conditions and reducing environmental problems, but are usually not harvested for profit. Instead, a main crop (cash crop) is planted into a flattened and dried cover crop. The cover crop residue remaining on the soil surface offers many benefits including improved soil moisture and less weeds, but the benefits depend on management style. Different cover crop management methods include rolling/crimping, mowing, or mowing with tillage to mix the residue with the soil. Planting cash crops into these dead cover crops left on the soil surface often require modification to existing planting equipment to get proper soil contact with seeds or seedlings. This experiment compares two different cover crops, iron clay pea and pearl millet, under 3 different termination methods (rolled/crimped, mowed, mowed and incorporated with tillage) on soil properties and collard yield. A patented residue manager attachment was also installed on a commercially available vegetable transplanter. Results indicated that collard yield was not affected by the residue manager installed or removed. Overall increases in soil quality were noticed during the 3 growing seasons for all treatments. Collards grown in an iron clay pea cover crop produced higher collard yields for all growing seasons compared to those grown in pearl millet.

Technical Abstract: Producers are looking for more sustainable methods of producing fresh vegetables. No-till systems that use cover crops to keep the soil surface covered can increase sustainability by reducing soil erosion, reduced weed pressure, and retaining soil moisture compared to bare soil cropping systems. However, properly managing cover crop residue is an important part in successfully adopting high residue production systems. Different cover crop management methods include rolling/crimping, mowing, or mowing with tillage to incorporate the residue. Planting cash crops into these high residue cover cropping systems often require modification to existing planting equipment to get proper soil contact with seeds or seedlings. Research is lacking on investigating multiple cover crop termination methods along with modifications to commercially available planting equipment. This experiment compares the effects of two different cover crops, iron clay pea and pearl millet, under 3 different termination methods (roll/crimped, mowed, mow+tillage) on soil properties and collard yield. A patented residue manager attachment was also installed on a commercially available vegetable transplanter. Data showed that yield was not affected by the residue manager attachment installed or removed. Overall increases in both total soil carbon and nitrogen were noticed during the 3 growing seasons for all treatments. Collard yield was affected by cover crop type as observed with iron clay pea from 2881-13168 kg ha-1 compared to lower collard yield for the pearl millet cover crop with a range of 1354-8943 kg ha-1. Collards grown in an iron clay pea cover crop produced higher yields for all growing seasons compared to those grown in pearl millet.