Mulching Soybeans

2000 Annual Report for FNC00-293

Project Type: Farmer/Rancher
Funds awarded in 2000: $678.00
Projected End Date: 12/31/2003
Region: North Central
State: Iowa
Project Coordinator:

Mulching Soybeans

Summary

Organic producers strive to improve soil structure and nutrients, and find more beneficial ways of controlling weeds without the use of chemicals.

Objective: To determine quality of weed control of mulch use in a row-cropped organic soybean field so that soil fertility is improved and less labor is spent on tillage.

The producer spread, by hand, flail-chopped, dried prairie grass as mulch on soybean fields when seedlings were about knee high. Test rows received one-half, one, and two inches of mulch, and the producer did not mulch control rows.

Results: The project was extended to gather data.