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ARS Home » Midwest Area » West Lafayette, Indiana » National Soil Erosion Research Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #101910
Title: SOIL QUALITY IMPROVEMENT WITH COVER CROP MIXTURES

Author
item RYAN, KATE - PURDUE UNIVERSITY
item KLADIVKO, EILEEN - PURDUE UNIVERSITY
item Hickman, Michael
item BROUDER, S - PURDUE UNIVERSITY
item NAKATSU, C - PURDUE UNIVERSITY
item GRAVEEL, J - PURDUE UNIVERSITY

Submitted to: International Soil Conservation Organization (ISCO)
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/23/1999
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Many farmers have a great interest in improving soil quality within their fields. Intensive tillage and the loss of sod-based rotations and routine applications of animal manure over the past 40 years in the Midwest USA, have resulted in a general decline in soil physical and biological conditions. This is the case on soils in the eastern cornbelt originally developed under forest vegetation. Farmers would like to have practical ways in which to improve soil quality within their overall farming system. For some farms this means reintroducing hay crops and animals into a longer rotation, other strategies are needed for farms in the eastern cornbelt. Winter cover crops are one such tool available to improve soil structure, biological diversity, and overall quality. A mixture of morphologically diverse cover crops may be able to mimic the beneficial effects of longer rotations within a shorter time period. Our strategy is to use a mixture of cover crops each winter in a 2-year corn- soybean rotation, to biologically intensify the system and optimize the use of ecological niches. This research and demonstration project is a joint effort. The objectives of the study are to 1) evaluate the potential for cover crop mixtures to improve soil structure, microbial biomass and diversity, and nutrient conservation and availability on four Indiana soils under no-till and conventional tillage systems and a corn/soybean rotation, 2) determine the impact of cover crop mixtures on corn and soybean yields and weed suppression on four Indiana soils under no-till and conventional tillage systems, and 3) evaluate and demonstrate cover crop mixtures and the resulting soil quality changes, on four farmers' fields in Indiana.