Project Overview
Information Products
Commodities
- Agronomic: corn
Practices
- Animal Production: feed/forage
- Crop Production: cover crops, double cropping, no-till
- Education and Training: farmer to farmer, on-farm/ranch research
- Soil Management: organic matter, soil microbiology, soil quality/health
Proposal summary:
Interseeding cover crops into mature corn in northern Pennsylvania is not adequately represented in published research studies. Unanswered questions and equipment unavailability make it tough for farmers in these areas to profitably adopt cover cropping on corn grain and silage acres a common practice. This project will address what corn stage interseeding works best, and what mixtures work best while using the Kreger Farms invented interseeder. The interseeder will go over corn at the V6 , V12 and at silking using seed mixtures of cereal rye, ryegrass, radish, black oats, and crimson clover. These species are inexpensive and easy to obtain. There are three area farmers who are willing to participate in this project (50 additional acres total). The project will promote itself with road frontage signs, and a field day with Penn State Extension, NRCS and Conservation District personnel.
Project objectives from proposal:
The question we will answer is “Can broadcast interseeding using an inexpensive Kreger Farms interseeder be done successfully? Success is determined by percent cover after harvest and at spring time, and minimal yield loss. We want to know what cover crop species in what planting conditions will survive being broadcast into a corn canopy, have harvesting equipment stress it, and contribute to the field’s cover crop goals. We want to be able to make recommendations to other farmers with similar growing challenges as to what species to plant, under what conditions to plant, using a Kreger Farms styled interseeder. If this project is successful, more farmers will adopt or be able to borrow, a Kreger Farms styled interseeder to maximize their cover crops usage, and their overall land. More farmers would be able to enjoy the benefits of nutrient recycling, soil conservation, soil resiliency, a cheap and high clearance machine to increase their soil productivity and farm cash flow.