There are a variety of agricultural research trials in Ontario, but one that stands out from the rest is the long-term cover crop trial set up by Dr. Laura Van Eerd in Ridgetown, Ontario. This trial was established in 2007 and has had consistent cover crop treatments within a processing vegetable-grain crop rotation on the same plot since then.

Most vegetable legume growers have yet to adopt cover crops due to the potential for reduced germination and yield in thick residue. But a new study from the University of Illinois and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service shows early-terminated rye could be a promising part of an integrated weed management program for some vegetable legumes, including edamame. Read more in this article from the Herald-Whig (Quincy, IL).

For vegetable growers, weeds can mean lost income from reduced yield and foreign plant matter contaminating the harvest. But for many crops, particularly vegetable legumes, weed management options are very limited. Read more in this press release from the University of Illinois.

Florida vegetable farmers who grow cover crops as a green manure between their cash crops anecdotally tout the health benefits, but a two-year study by University of Florida has provided the research to back it up. In a Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SSARE) On-Farm Research Grant, University of Florida soil health expert Jehangir (Jango) Bhadha shadowed the cover crop practices of eight farmers across the state to measure the benefits of using cover crops (mainly cow pea and sunn hemp) as a soil amendment and nutrient source for subsequent cash crops.

This year’s cover crop of barley and wheat is designed to put nutrients back into this plot of Western Oklahoma soil. Picking through a small box full of small seeds, farmer Jimmy Emmons points out, “There’s squash in here. There’s peas in here.” Read more in this article from Oklahoma News 4.