Final Report for FNE08-648
Project Information
Note to reader, attached is the complete final report for FNE08-648
Our purpose for this project was to find a method of interseeding species into grain corn so that that there would be a cover crop on the land after the grain was harvested in the fall. We used two species: redclover and oilseed radish for our cover crop. In 2009 the timing of the seeding was when the corn plant was growing at the V2 and V8 stage of growth, and into corn populations of 24,000 and 28,000 plants per acre. These seedings were made by broadcasting into zone-tilled corn. The best establishment of the interseeding was made when seeding at the corn growth stage V8 and with the lower corn plant population of 24,000 plants per acre. The earlier seeding at corn planting time (2008 growing season) was too early and competed with the corn growth, therefore reducing yield. We found the soil test showed nearly twice the amount of nitrogen in the soil for the start of the 2009 corn crop with both species of interseeding when compared to the check.