Fostering Coordinated Research Initiatives: Uniting Wisconsin’s Producer-Led Watershed Groups to Advance Cover Crop Interseeding

Commodities

Practices

Growing cover crops (CCs) after corn harvest can be challenging due to Wisconsin’s short post-harvest growing season. Interseeding CCs into corn has gained the interest of row crop and dairy/livestock producers as a method to establish CCs earlier. In addition to soil health benefits provided by CCs, there are opportunities to utilize CCs as an alternative forage crop. Grazing and harvesting don't necessarily compromise other ecosystem services of CCs and can help make them profitable. However, as with many conservation practices, on-farm research and demonstration (R&D) is necessary to overcome interseeding management hurdles and promote adoption.

This proposal seeks to build and support a coordinated R&D network between Wisconsin’s producer-led watershed groups (PLWGs) to advance cover crop interseeding. This project will identify best management practices for broadcast-interseeding CCs into corn using drones, assess the impact that interseeded CCs have on corn yield, measure CC biomass and forage quality, and determine if the forage produced has an economic value that may compensate for possible increased costs. Importantly, this pilot project will empower the PLWG program to assess whether conducting coordinated research across watershed groups adds value to the program’s overall mission and future direction.

1. Quantify corn yield and measure soil health parameters in conventional and CC interseeding systems on eight farms in four Wisconsin watersheds.
2. Measure CC biomass and forage quality. Determine if using CCs as an alternative forage has economic value that may compensate for increased costs incurred or corn yield drag.
3. Hold field days at collaborator farms during CC interseeding and post-corn harvest to encourage peer-to-peer learning and successful farmer-led leadership.
4. Report project results via the PLWG’s website, Extension articles, and at PLWG meetings.
5. Develop a model of coordinated PLWG R&D projects that collaboratively address questions about sustainable agricultural practices in Wisconsin.