Yield Evaluation of Various Cover Crops - 2016
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 crop, 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 crop, 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 and 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 and 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: | 50-25-60 |
| Tillage: | Conventional | Herbicide: | Cornerstone 12 oz/A |
| Irrigation: | None | Soil Type: | Creston Silt Loam |
Table 3. Cool season cover crop agronomic data.
| Cultivar | YLD 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
1 Ground Hog Radish, Purple Top Turnip, Arvika Spring Pea, DKL 30-42 Canola, Baldy Spineless Safflower, Otana Oat.
2 Ground Hog Radish, Purple Top Turnip, Arvika Spring Pea, SSNS-1 FabaBean, Frontier ChickPea, DKL 30-42 Canola, Baldy Spineless Safflower, Peredovik Sunflower, Otana Oat, Sorghum-CARC.
3 Ground Hog Radish, Purple Top Turnip, Frontier ChickPea, SSNS-1 FabaBean, Peredovik Sunflower, Sorghum-CARC.
4 Ground Hog Radish, Purple Top Turnip, SSNS-1 FabaBean, Loreto Black Bean, TEFF, Indian Corn, Sorghum-CARC.
Table 4. Warm season cover crop agronomic data.
| Cultivar | YLD T/A |
| Sorghum-CARC | 2.10 |
| Indian Corn | 2.10 |
| 6Mix Cool Season Late1 | 1.90 |
| 10Mi 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
1 Ground Hog Radish, Purple Top Turnip, Arvika Spring Pea, DKL 30-42 Canola, Baldy Spineless Safflower, Otana Oat.
2 Ground Hog Radish, Purple Top Turnip, Arvika Spring Pea, SSNS-1 FabaBean, Frontier ChickPea, DKL 30-42 Canola, Baldy Spineless Safflower, Peredovik Sunflower, Otana Oat, Sorghum-CARC.
3 Ground Hog Radish, Purple Top Turnip, SSNS-1 FabaBean, Loreto Black Bean, TEFF, Indian Corn, Sorghum-CARC.
4 Ground Hog Radish, Purple Top Turnip, Frontier ChickPea, SSNS-1 FabaBean, Peredovik Sunflower, Sorghum-CARC.