Objective:                   

To evaluate various cover crops for forage yield performance in Northwestern Montana.

Results:

Significant difference in forage yield was observed for cool season cover crops, with an average of 0.9 T/A. Alsike clover and Purple top turnip did not produce any biomass. Otana Oat produced the highest biomass at 2.5 T/A for (Table 3).

Significant difference in forage yield was observed for warm season crops, with an average of 1.1 T/A, ranging from 0.5 T/A for TEFF to 2.1 T/A for both Sorghum-CARC and Indian Corn (Table 4).

Summary:

Cereal type forages consistently produced the highest biomass for either early or late planted cover crops.

 

Table 1. Materials & Methods - Cool Season   
Seeding Date: 4/27/2016 Harvest Date: 6/23/2016
Julian Date: 118 Julian Date: 175
Seeding Rate: NA Soil Test: 116-11-125
Previous Crop: Barley Fertilizer: 50-25-60
Tillage: Conventional Pesticide: NA
Irrigation: None  
Soil Type: Creston Silt Loam  

 

 

Table 2. Materials & Methods - Warm Season   
Seeding Date: 6/3/2016 Harvest Date: 8/3/2016
Julian Date: 155 Julian Date: 216
Seeding Rate: NA Soil Test: 116-11-125
Previous Crop: Barley Fertilizer: 50-20-60
Tillage: Conventional Herbicide: Cornerstone 12 oz/A
Irrigation: None  
Soil Type: Creston Silt Loam  

 

 

Table 3. Cool season cover crop agronomic data 
  YLD
Cultivar T/A
Otana Oat 2.50
Triticale 2.10
DKL 30-42 Canola 1.70
Omega Flax 1.30
6Mix Cool Season Early¹ 1.30
10Mix Diversity Early² 1.10
Arvika Spring Pea 1.00
Baldy Spineless Safflower 0.80
6Mix Warm Season Early³ 0.30
7Mix Alternative Cool4 0.30
Hairy Vetch 0.20
Ground Hog Radish 0.10
Purple Top Turnip 0.00
Alsike Clover 0.00
Mean 0.90
CV 30.61
LSD 0.28
Pr>F 0.0001
YLD: yield 
¹Ground Hog Radish, Purple Top Turnip, Arvika Spring Pea, DKL 30-42 Canola, Baldy Spineless Safflower, Otana Oat. 
²Ground Hog Radish, Purple Top Turnip, Arvika Spring Pea, SSNS-1 FabaBean, Frontier ChickPea, DKL 30-42 Canola, Baldy Spineless Safflower, Peredovik Sunflower, Oatana Oat, Sorghum-CARC. 
³Ground Hog Radish, Purple Top Turnip, Frontier ChickPea, SSNS-1 FabaBean, Peredovik Sunflower, Sorghum-CARC. 
4Ground Hog Radish, Purple Top Turnip, SSNS-1 FabaBean, Loreto Black Bean, TEFF, Indian Corn, Sorghum-CARC. 

 

 

Table 4. Warm season cover crop agronomic data. 
  YLD
Cultivar T/A
Sorghum-CARC 2.10
Indian Corn 2.10
6MixCool Season Late¹ 1.90
10Mix Diversity Late² 1.70
Golden German Millet 1.40
7Mix Alternative Warm³ 1.00
Loreto Black Bean 0.90
Purple Top Turnip 0.80
SSNS-1 FabaBean 0.80
6Mix Warm Season Late4 0.80
Peredovik Sunflower 0.70
Frontier ChickPea 0.70
Ground Hog Radish 0.60
Sheyenne Soybean 0.60
Berseem Clover 0.60
TEFF 0.50
Mean 1.08
CV 51.36
LSD 0.79
Pr>F 0.0001
YLD: yield 
¹Ground Hog Radish, Purple Top Turnip, Arvika Spring Pea, DKL 30-42 Canola, Baldy Spineless Safflower, Otana Oat. 
²Ground Hog Radish, Purple Top Turnip, Arvika Spring Pea, SSNS-1 FabaBean, Frontier ChickPea, DKL 30-42 Canola, Baldy Spineless Safflower, Peredovik Sunflower, Oatana Oat, Sorghum-CARC. 
³Ground Hog Radish, Purple Top Turnip, Frontier ChickPea, SSNS-1 FabaBean, Peredovik Sunflower, Sorghum-CARC. 
4Ground Hog Radish, Purple Top Turnip, SSNS-1 FabaBean, Loreto Black Bean, TEFF, Indian Corn, Sorghum-CARC.