When managed properly, a fall-planted cereal rye cover crop can provide several soil health and weed management benefits. However, adequate termination of cereal rye in the spring is important for proper cash crop establishment and to prevent the cover crop from becoming an unwanted plant in the field. Inadequate termination can lead to unwanted competition with the cash crop for moisture, nutrients, and/or sunlight, which can ultimately lead to yield reductions of the cash crops. Evaluating mechanical and chemical options Field experiments were conducted at Lamberton and Rosemount, MN, in 2022 to evaluate various mechanical and chemical options for cereal rye cover crop termination in the spring. The mechanical treatments included mowing the cereal rye at ground level and a tillage treatment of rototilling to a 10-inch depth. The herbicide treatments included Roundup PowerMax, Liberty, Gramoxone, Select Max, and Reviton alone, as well as a Roundup PowerMax with various tank-mix partners and Gramoxone + 2,4-D (see Table 1 for the full list of treatments and rates). Herbicides were applied at a 15 gal/A carrier volume using AIXR 110015 nozzles.
Cereal rye was drilled at a rate of 60 lbs/A after soybean harvest in 2021. In the following spring of 2022, the cover crop was terminated at either the tillering (early) or heading (late) growth stage. This corresponded to a date of May 9 and May 16 for the early termination timing at Rosemount and Lamberton, respectively, and June 1 for the late timing at both locations.
Source: umn.edu
Photo Credit: GettyImages-mvburling
Categories: Minnesota, Crops