
FIGURE 1. The yellow line in this graph shows corn yield response to a frost-seeded red clover cover crop planted after a small grain on a farm in Waukesha County, Wis. The blue line represents corn yield response to nitrogen (N) fertilizer applied at rates of 0, 40, 80, 120 and 160 pounds per acre. Both are in comparison to a control strip with no cover. “The frost-seeded red clover ended up being at least a 70 bushel-per-acre benefit when no N fertilizer was applied,” says Nicole Tautges, research director at the Michael Fields Agricultural Institute in East Troy, Wis. Nicole Tautges
A multi-species summer cover crop mix doesn’t compete with the “tried-and-true” practice of frost seeding red clover with small grains, according to a series of recent on-farm research trials conducted in Wisconsin.
Over the last four years, Nicole Tautges, research director at the Michael Fields Agricultural Institute in East Troy, Wis., and a group of collaborating farmers and researchers conducted a study assessing the most beneficial cover crop to add to a 3-year cropping rotation…