26 COVER CROPS PLAYan important role in building soil quality and productivity on Ontario farms. Yet, even though their benefits are widely known, skepticism still exists. Farmers worry about the cost of implementation and that they might not get a return on investment. But in corn following fall rye, their biggest worries are reduced establishment and possible impact on yield. A Grain Farmers of Ontario funded research project, led by University of Guelph crop science professor Dr. Francois Tardif, aims Improved corn establishment THE ROLE OF HERBICIDES AND COVER CROPS Melanie Epp to investigate these concerns in order to provide concrete guidelines that will help more farmers adopt this important practice with confidence. The benefits of cover crops are many. They help control weeds, capture carbon, reduce erosion, and build soil health. Building soil organic matter can help reduce nutrient loss and improve soil fertility, and healthier soil is better at filtering and holding water. Improved soil structure also helps to reduce compaction. While the benefits are many, farmers still have questions. Tardif and his colleagues had three objectives in the first part of the study. First, they wanted to determine the best timing for cover crop termination prior to corn planting. Then, they wanted to ascertain whether or not the termination of cover crops with a herbicide providing fast burn would reduce the negative impacts seen when planting into standing cover. Finally, they wanted to find out if separating rye from corn when planted in twin rows would help improve corn establishment. FIELD EXPERIMENTS While the COVID-19 pandemic and associated measures created some challenges for the researchers, they were able to establish field experiments at Elora and Woodstock last year. Rye was seeded in October 2019 at Elora in two planting patterns: full planting with 7.5-inch row spacing, and partial planting at 7.5-inch row spacing with two rows planted and two rows skipped. Measurements were taken in the following spring, and termination was initiated in May at two weeks, one week and one day before, as well as one week after corn was planted. Corn was planted on May 27. Termination was done using glyphosate or with a mix of glyphosate and glufosinate. Tardif and his colleagues collected data on the amount Research RYE PLOTS ONE WEEK PRIOR TO PLANTING CORN IN 2020. SOLID SEEDED RYE (ROWS SPACED 7.5 INCHES) VERSUS A PLOT WHERE TWO ROWS WERE SKIPPED OUT OF EVERY FOUR, FOR A STRIP OF 22.5 INCHES IN THE CENTER OF WHICH CORN IS TO BE PLANTED. PHOTOS COURTESY DR. FRANCOIS TARDIF
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTQzODE4