Using perennial forages to reduce input costs of integrated forage-row crop production

Authors: Billman, Eric

Submitted to: American Forage and Grassland Conference Proceedings
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/20/2024
Publication Date: 1/14/2025
Citation: Billman, E.D. 2025. Using perennial forages to reduce input costs of integrated forage-row crop production [abstract]. American Forage and Grassland Council Annual Meeting.

Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract Only

Technical Abstract: Development of an integrated forage-cotton crop system using cool-season perennial forages could allow cotton and cattle production on the same unit of land, thus increasing sustainable intensification. This study was conducted to evaluate input reduction and economic benefits of incorporating a cool-season perennial forage groundcover system into cotton in the southeastern U.S. Coastal Plain from October 2022 – October 2024. Six treatments were established in fall 2022: 1) weedy fallow, 2) annual ryegrass monoculture, 3) tall fescue monoculture, 4) 1:1 red clover and white clover mixture, 5) a 2:1:1 annual ryegrass, red clover, and white clover mixture, and 6) a 2:1:1 tall fescue, red clover, and white clover mixture. Forages were maintained and harvested during spring each year, then strip tilled and intercropped with cotton. The fallow and annual ryegrass treatments were managed conventionally with full pesticide application, but all other treatments received only a single in-row banding of glyphosate post-cotton emergence. Economic inputs and profit were determined from both the forage and cotton components and compared among treatments. Despite $10 - $49/acre lower input costs where growing perennial forages, lint yield reductions where perennial forages were grown reduced profit margins even when not using pesticides. However, cotton grown alongside the red and white clover mixture had similar profitability ($351/acre) to the fallow ($492/acre) and annual ryegrass controls ($396/acre). When combined with cattle gains from forage, profitability of a forage-cotton cropping system would likely exceed a conventional a cotton monoculture using conventional pesticide inputs.