Author
 |
Kremer, Robert |
|
Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only Publication Acceptance Date: 12/29/2005 Publication Date: 12/30/2005 Citation: Kremer, R.J. 2005. Alternative management for winter annual weeds and improved soil quality [abstract]. North Central Weed Science Society. CD-ROM. Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: The widespread adoption of glyphosate-resistant crops in no-tillage crop production systems has contributed to extensive infestations of winter annual weeds. Dense infestations of winter annual weeds may adversely affect subsequent crops in a crop rotation by lowering soil temperatures and soil water content in the spring; disrupting planting operations; serving as hosts for pests including detrimental insects and the soybean cyst nematode; and producing copious amounts of seeds that replenish the seedbank. Because glyphosate applied during the crop-growing season has no residual soil activity on winter annual weeds that establish after crop harvest, additional herbicide management strategies to control these weeds have been proposed. Establishment of cover crops into standing soybean or corn is an alternative to additional herbicide inputs, which increase production costs and impact environmental quality. In the Midwest USA, selected cover crops can be established prior to crop harvest for adequate vegetative production to suppress winter annual weed growth, provide surface residue cover, and enhance soil quality before a killing frost. The objectives of this research were to determine winter annual weed suppression and biomass production of selected cover crops over-seeded into soybean or corn prior to harvest, and to determine the effects of these cover crops on selected soil quality indicators. A soybean-corn rotation was established in spring 2001 on a Mexico silt loam (fine, smectitic, mesic, Aeric Vertic Epiaqualfs) on Sanborn Field, University of Missouri-Columbia. The existing cool-season grasses were killed with glyphosate and no-till soybean was planted; no-till corn was planted in 2002, and this crop rotation was continued throughout the study (2001-2005). A completely random design with three replicates of three treatments consisted of plots 3.1 m wide and 9.2 m long, which were planted with the rotational crop at 0.76 m row widths. Cover crop treatments were a control (weedy check), spring oat (VNS), and canola (‘Victoria’). Cover crops were over-seeded into soybean or corn in late-August to mid-September with a hand-crank seeder at 170 kg/ha (oat) or 100 kg/ha (canola). Cover crop and weed above-ground biomass was harvested in late November to early December (fall sampling) and in April to early May (spring sampling) by clipping all growth at the soil surface within a 0.1 m^2 quadrat. Biomass samples were separated into cover crop and weed components and dried at 105C for 48 h for dry weight determination. Soil samples were collected from the upper 0-8 cm in late fall and early spring. Total organic carbon (TOC) and total nitrogen contents were determined by dry combustion using a C/N analyzer. Soil microbial activity was assessed using the fluorescein diacetate (FDA) hydrolysis and dehydrogenase enzyme assays (Kremer and Li. 2003. Soil Till. Res. 72:193-202). Soil aggregate stability was determined for aggregates '250-'m using a wet-sieving method (Kremer and Li 2003). All data were subjected to one-way analysis of variance and, where F-values were significant and p<0.05, means were compared by using Fisher’s protected least significance differences (LSD) test. Common chickweed, henbit, and purple deadnettle were the predominant winter annual weeds that produced 260-450 g biomass per m^2. Spring oat had the greatest cover crop biomass accumulation and suppressed weed growth by 77-94% and 75-100% in the fall and spring, respectively. Canola accumulated an average of 400 g biomass per m^2 but suppressed <80% of winter annual weed growth regardless of sampling period. Spring oat was winter-killed by freezing temperatures and provided a dense mulch on the soil surface. Canola growth was suspended by winter conditions but re-grew in spring and required mowing to mulch the soil surface. Canola also often sprouted new s |
