Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dsjbd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T00:13:37.985Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Suppressing weed growth after wheat harvest with underseeded red clover in organic farming

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 March 2015

Randy L. Anderson
Randy L. Anderson*
Affiliation:
USDA-ARS, Brookings, 57006 South Dakota, USA.
*
* Corresponding author: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Organic producers are seeking alternative tactics for weed control so that they can reduce their need for tillage. In this study, we examined cover crop strategies for suppressing weed growth after harvest of wheat. Three cover crop treatments, red clover (mammoth type), a mixture of oat and dry pea, and a control were compared. Treatments were established in both winter and spring wheat, resulting in six treatments arranged in a randomized complete block design. Red clover was underseeded in wheat by drilling in the spring, and the oat/pea mixture was planted in August. Oat was planted uniformly across all treatments in the following growing season. The red clover treatment effectively suppressed weeds, reducing post-harvest weed biomass, density of volunteer winter wheat, and seed production of downy brome by more than 99% compared with the control. Oat/pea was not effective for weed management, likely because of less fall growth and competition compared with red clover. Underseeding red clover did not affect winter wheat yield, but reduced spring wheat yield by 17%. Oat yield, however, was reduced by volunteer crop plants and downy brome infestations in all treatments. Underseeding clovers in winter wheat may effectively manage weeds and, if they winterkill, can replace the need for tillage to control weeds after wheat harvest.

Keywords

cover cropscultural tacticsdowny bromeno-tillweed biomass
Type
Research Papers
Information
Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems , Volume 31 , Issue 3 , June 2016 , pp. 185 - 190
Check for updates
Creative Commons
This is a work of the U.S. Government and is not subject to copyright protection in the United States.
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Triplett, G.B. Jr and Dick, W.A. 2008. No-tillage crop production: A revolution in agriculture! Agronomy Journal 100(Suppl.):S-153–S-165.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2 Peigne, J., Ball, B.C., Roger, E., Strand, J., and David, C. 2007. Is conservation tillage suitable for organic farming? A review. Soil Use and Management 23:129–144.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3 Hobbs, P.R. 2007. Conservation agriculture: What is it and why is it important for future sustainable food production? Journal of Agricultural Science 145:127–137.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4 Van der Weide, R.Y., Bleeker, P.O., Achten, W.T., Lotz, L.A., Fogelberry, R., and Melander, B. 2008. Innovation in mechanical weed control in crop rows. Weed Research 48:215–224.Google Scholar
5 Brainard, D.C., Haramoto, E., Williams, M.M. II, and Mirsky, S. 2013. Towards a no-till, no-spray future? Introduction to a symposium on nonchemical weed management for reduced-tillage cropping system. Weed Technology 27:190–192.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
6 Creamer, N.G. and Dabney, S.M. 2002. Killing cover crops mechanically: Review of recent literature and assessment of new research results. American Journal of Alternative Agriculture 17:32–40.Google Scholar
7 Grandy, A.S., Robertson, G.P., and Thelen, K.D. 2006. Do productivity and environmental trade-offs justify periodically cultivating no-till cropping systems? Agronomy Journal 98:1377–1383.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8 Anderson, R.L. 2010. A rotation design to reduce weed density in organic farming. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems 25:189–195.Google Scholar
9 Anderson, R.L. 2005. A multi-tactic approach to manage weed population dynamics in crop rotations. Agronomy Journal 97:1579–1583.Google Scholar
10 Anderson, R.L. 2008. Rotation design and no-till: Keys for pest management in the Great Plains. Weed Science 56:141–145.Google Scholar
11 Anderson, R.L. 2009. A 2-year small grain interval reduces need for herbicides in no-till soybean. Weed Technology 23:398–403.Google Scholar
12 Gibson, K.D., Johnson, W.G., and Hillger, D.E. 2005. Farmer perception of problematic corn and soybean weeds in Indiana. Weed Technology 19:1065–1070.Google Scholar
13 Werle, R., Bernards, M.L., Arkebauer, T.J., and Lindquist, J.L. 2014. Environmental triggers of winter annual weed emergence in the Midwestern United States. Weed Science 62:83–96.Google Scholar
14 Entz, M.H., Baron, V.S., Carr, P.M., Meyer, D.W., Smith, S.R. Jr, and McCaughey, W.P. 2002. Potential of forages to diversify cropping systems in the Northern Great Plains. Agronomy Journal 94:240–250.Google Scholar
15 Kruidhoff, H.M., Bastiaans, L., and Kropff, M.J. 2008. Ecological weed management by cover cropping: Effects on weed growth in autumn and weed establishment in spring. Weed Research 48:492–502.Google Scholar
16 Lawley, Y.E., Weil, R.R., and Teasdale, J.R. 2011. Forage radish cover crop suppresses winter annual weeds in fall and before corn planting. Agronomy Journal 103:137–144.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
17 Blaser, B.C., Gibson, L.R., Singer, J.W., and Jannick, J. 2006. Optimizing seeding rates for winter cereal grains and frost-seeded red clover intercrops. Agronomy Journal 98:1041–1049.Google Scholar
18 Mutch, D.R., Martin, T.E., and Kosola, K.R. 2003. Red clover (Trifolium pretense) suppression of common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia) in winter wheat (Triticum aestivum). Weed Technology 17:181–185.Google Scholar
19 Thiessen Martens, J.R., Hoeppner, J.W., and Entz, M.H. 2001. Legume cover crops with winter cereals in southern Manitoba: Establishment, productivity, and microclimate effects. Agronomy Journal 93:1086–1096.Google Scholar
20 Teasdale, J.R. and Mohler, C.L. 1993. Light transmittance, soil temperature, and soil moisture under residue of hairy vetch and rye. Agronomy Journal 85:673–680.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
21 Teasdale, J.R. and Mohler, C.L. 2002. The quantitative relationship between weed emergence and the physical properties of mulches. Weed Science 48:385–392.Google Scholar
22 Lawley, Y.E., Teasdale, J.R., and Weil, R.R. 2012. The mechanism for weed suppression by a forage radish cover crop. Agronomy Journal 104:205–214.Google Scholar
23 Finnerty, D.W. and Klingman, D.L. 1962. Life cycles and control studies of some weed bromegrasses. Weeds 10:40–47.Google Scholar
24 Cici, S.Z. and Van Acker, R.C. 2009. A review of the recruitment biology of winter annual weeds in Canada. Canadian Journal of Plant Science 89:575–589.Google Scholar
25 Cisneros, J.J. and Zandstra, B.H. 2008. Flame weeding effects on several weed species. Weed Technology 22:290–295.Google Scholar
26 Sivesind, E.C., Leblanc, M.L., Cloutier, D.C., Seguin, P., and Stewart, K.A. 2009. Weed response to flame weeding at different developmental stages. Weed Technology 23:438–443.Google Scholar
27 Hulbert, L.C. 1955. Ecological studies of Bromus tectorum and other annual bromegrasses. Ecological Monographs 25:181–213.Google Scholar
28 Donald, W.W. 2007. Control of both winter annual and summer annual weeds in no-till corn with between-row mowing systems. Weed Technology 21:591–601.Google Scholar
29 Clark, A. 2012. Managing Cover Crop Profitably. 3rd ed. Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program Handbook Series: Book 9. Sustainable Agriculture Research and Extension Program (SARE), College Park, Maryland, USA. p. 116–188.Google Scholar