Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T18:15:52.476Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Cover crop management effects on soybean and corn growth and nitrogen dynamics in an on-farm study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 June 1991

D. L. Karlen  and
J. W. Doran
D. L. Karlen
Affiliation:
Scientist, USDA-ARS, National Soil Tilth Laboratory, 2150 Pammel Drive, Ames, IA 50011.
J. W. Doran
Affiliation:
Soil Scientist, USDA-ARS, Soil and Water Conservation Research Unit, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Keim Hall, East Campus, Lincoln, NE 68583.
Get access

Abstract

Combining cover crops and conservation tillage may result in more sustainable agricultural production practices. Objectives of this on-farm study were to quantify effects of cover crops on growth and nitrogen accumulation by soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr,] and corn (Zea mays L.) on a Nicollet loam (fine-loamy, mixed, mesic Aquic Hapludoll) near Boone, Iowa, Our farmer-cooperator planted soybean in 1988 using ridge tillage into an undisturbed strip with a hairy vetch (Vicia villosa L. Roth) cover crop and into a strip where previous crop residue and a negligible amount of cover crop had been incorporated by autumn and spring disking. In each strip, we established four plots for soil and plant measurements. Our cooperator planted corn on the same strips in 1989 into a cover crop that consisted of both hairy vetch and winter rye (Secale cereale L.). We determined the source of N accumulated by the corn by applying 67 kg N/ha of 15N depleted NH4NO3 fertilizer. In the absence of cover crops, early season soil NO3-N levels in the top 30 cm were higher, and corn growth and N accumulation were more rapid. At harvest, the corn grain, stover, and cob together accounted for 36 and 39 percent of the 15N fertilizer for the ridge tillage and disked treatments, respectively. We suggest that lower net mineralization of organic matter or greater denitrification losses before planting reduced the availability of soil N, This created an early season Nstress in corn grown with cover crops that was not overcome by broadcast fertilizer N applied three weeks after planting. Our on-farm research study has helped focus continuing efforts to determine if non-recovered fertilizer N is being immobilized in microbial biomass, lost by denitrification, or leached below the plant root zone.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Journal of Alternative Agriculture , Volume 6 , Issue 2 , June 1991 , pp. 71 - 82
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1991

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Anderson, I. C., Sundberg, D. N., and Khosravi, G.. 1988. Does allelopathy occur in corn?. Proc 43rd Annual Corn and Sorghum Industry Res. Conf. 43:167–179.Google Scholar
2. Bertilsson, G. 1988. Lysimeter studies of nitrogen leaching and nitrogen balances as affected by agricultural practices. Acta Agric. Scand. 38:3–11.Google Scholar
3. Brinsfield, R., Staver, K., and Magette, W.. 1988. The role of cover crops in reducing nitrate leaching to groundwater. In Agricultural Impacts on Groundwater, Nat. Well Water Assoc., Dublin, Ohio.Google Scholar
4. Burden, R. L., Faires, J. D., and Reynolds, A. C.. 1981. Numerical Analysis. Prindle, Weber and Schmidt, Boston, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
5. Campbell, R. B., Karlen, D. L., and Sojka, R. E.. 1984. Conservation tillage for maize production in the U.S. southeastern Coastal Plain. Soil and Tillage Res. 4:511–529.Google Scholar
6. Doran, J. W., Karlen, D. L., and Thompson, R. L.. 1989. Seasonal variations in soil microbial biomass and available N with varying tillage and cover crop management. Agronomy Abstracts. Am. Soc. Agron., Crop Sci. Soc. Am., and Soil Sci. Soc. Am., Madison, Wisconsin. p. 213.Google Scholar
7. Frye, W. W., Blevins, R. L., Smith, M. S., Corak, S. J., and Varco, J. J.. 1988. Role of annual legume cover crops in efficient use of water and nitrogen. In Hargrove, W. L. (ed.). Cropping Strategies for Efficient Use of Water and Nitrogen. Am. Soc. Agron. Spec. Publ. 51. Am. Soc. Agron., Crop Sci. Soc. Am., and Soil Sci. Soc. Am., Madison, Wisconsin. pp. 129–154.Google Scholar
8. Gupta, S. C., Larson, W. E., and Linden, D. R.. 1983. Tillage and surface residue effects on soil upper boundary temperatures. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 47:1212–1218.Google Scholar
9. Hallberg, G. R. 1989a. Nitrate in ground water in the United States. In Follett, R. F. (ed.). Nitrogen Management and Groundwater Protection. Elsevier Sci. Pub., Amsterdam, pp. 35–74.Google Scholar
10. Hallberg, G. R. 1989b. Pesticide pollution of groundwater in the humid United States. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 26:299–367.Google Scholar
11. Karlen, D. L., Flannery, R. L., and Sadler, E. J.. 1987a. Nutrient and dry matter accumulation rates for high yielding maize. Proc. X International Plant Nutrition Colloq., Rockville, Maryland. J. Plant Nutrition 10(9–16):1409–1417.Google Scholar
12. Karlen, D. L., Sadler, E. J., and Camp, C. R.. 1987b. Dry matter, N, P, and K accumulation rates by corn on Norfolk loamy sand. Agron. J. 79:649–656.Google Scholar
13. Karlen, D. L., Flannery, R. L., and Sadler, E. J.. 1988. Nutrient and dry matter accumulation by high-yield corn. Agron J. 80:232–242.Google Scholar
14. Karlen, D. L. 1989. Tillage and planting system effects on corn emergence from Norfolk loamy sand. Appl. Agric. Res. 4:190–195.Google Scholar
15. Karlen, D. L., and Sadler, E. J.. 1989. Aerial dry matter and nutrient accumulation rates for soybean at different yield levels. In Munson, R. D. (ed.). Research Roundtable Proceedings on the Physiology, Biochemistry, Nutrition, and Bioengineering of Soybeans: Implications for Future Management. Potash & Phosphate Institute, Atlanta, Georgia, pp. 39–52.Google Scholar
16. Karlen, D. L. 1990. Conservation tillage research findings and needs in the Midwest and East. J. Soil Water Conserv. 45:365–369.Google Scholar
17. Karlen, D. L., Erbach, D. C., Kaspar, T. C., Colvin, T. S., Berry, E. C., and Timmons, D. R.. 1990. Soil tilth: A review of past perceptions and future needs. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 54:153–161.Google Scholar
18. Karraker, P. E., Bortner, C. E., and Fergus, E. N.. 1950. Nitrogen balance in lysimeters as affected by growing Kentucky bluegrass and certain legumes separately and together. Bull. No. 557, Kentucky Agric. Exp. Stn., University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky.Google Scholar
19. Keeney, D. R. 1989. Sources of nitrate to groundwater. In Follett, R. F. (ed.). Nitrogen Management and Groundwater Protection. Elsevier Sci. Pub., Amsterdam, pp. 23–34.Google Scholar
20. Laflen, J. M., and Moldenhauer, W. C.. 1979. Soil and water losses from corn-soybean rotations. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 43:1213–1215.Google Scholar
21. Larson, W. E., Foster, G. R., Allmaras, R. R., and Smith, C. M. (eds.). 1990. Proceedings of Soil Erosion and Productivity Workshop. University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota.Google Scholar
22. Mannering, J. V., Franzmeier, D. P., Schertz, D. L., Moldenhauer, W. C., and Norton, L. D.. 1985. Regional effects of soil erosion on crop productivity-Midwest. In Follett, R. F. and Stewart, B. A. (eds.). Soil Erosion and Crop Productivity. Am. Soc. Agron., Crop Sci. Soc. Am., and Soil Sci. Soc. Am., Madison, Wisconsin, pp. 271–284.Google Scholar
23. Martin, V. L., McCoy, E. L., and Dick, W. A.. 1990. Allelopathy of crop residues influences corn seed germination and early growth. Agron. J. 82:555–560.Google Scholar
24. Martinez, J., and Guiraud, G.. 1990. A lysimeter study of the effects of a ryegrass catch crop, during a winter wheat/maize rotation, on nitrate leaching and on the following crop. J. Soil Sci. 41:5–16.Google Scholar
25. McCracken, D. V., Moldenhauer, W. C., and Laflen, J. M.. 1985. The impact of soybeans on soil physical properties and soil erodibility. In Shibles, R. M. (ed.). Proceedings: World Soybean Research Conference III. Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado, pp. 988–994.Google Scholar
26. Pieters, A. J., and McKee, R.. 1938. The use of cover and green-manure crops. In Soils and Men, the Yearbook of Agriculture. USDA. U.S. Gov. Print. Off., Washington, DC. pp. 431–444.Google Scholar
27. Pomares-Garcia, F., and Pratt, P. F.. 1978. Recovery of 15N-labeled fertilizer from manured and sludge-amended soil. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 42:717–720.Google Scholar
28. Power, J. F. (ed.). 1987. The Role of Legumes in Conservation Tillage Systems. Proc. Natl. Conf., April 27–29, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia. Soil Conserv. Soc. Am., Ankeny, Iowa.Google Scholar
29. Rzewnicki, P. E., Thompson, R., Lesoing, G. W., Elmore, R. W., Francis, C. A., Parkhurst, A. M., and Moomaw, R. S.. 1988. On-farm experiment designs and implications for locating research sites. Am. J. Alt. Agric. 3:168–173.Google Scholar
30. SAS Institute, Inc. 1985. SAS user's guide: Statistics, Version 5 Edition. Cary, North Carolina.Google Scholar
31. Schepers, J. S., Francis, D. D., and Thompson, M. T.. 1989. Simultaneous determination of total C, total N, and 15N on soil and plant material. Commun. Soil Sci. Plant Anal. 20:949–959.Google Scholar
32. Scott, T. W., and Burt, R. F.. 1985. Cover crops and intercrops of New York. Cornell Coop. Ext. Fact Sheet. Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.Google Scholar
33. Shaw, R. H. 1977. Climatic requirement. In G. F. Sprague (ed.). Corn and Corn Improvement. Agronomy 18:591–623.Google Scholar
34. Smith, M. S., Frye, W. W., and Varco, J. J.. 1987. Legume winter cover crops. Adv. Soil Sci. 7:95–139.Google Scholar
35. Soil Conservation Service. Undated. Soil conservation systems for Iowa cropland. USDASCS, Des Moines, Iowa.Google Scholar
36. Staver, K. W., and Brinsfield, R. B.. 1990. Patterns of soil nitrate availability in corn production systems: Implications for reducing groundwater contamination. J. Soil Water Conserv. 45:318–323.Google Scholar
37. USDA. 1981. Soil survey of Boone County, Iowa. USDA-SCS, U.S. Gov. Print. Office, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
38. Voss, R. D., and Shrader, W. D.. 1988. Crop rotations: Effects on yields and response to nitrogen. Pm-105. Iowa State University, Cooperative Extension Service, Ames, Iowa.Google Scholar
39. Wagger, M. G., and Mengel, D. B.. 1988. The role of nonleguminous cover crops in the efficient use of water and nitrogen. In Hargrove, W. L. (ed.). Cropping Strategies for Efficient Use of Water and Nitrogen. Am. Soc. Agron. Spec. Publ. 51. Am. Soc. Agron., Crop Sci. Soc. Am., and Soil Sci. Soc. Am., Madison, Wisconsin, pp. 115–127.Google Scholar