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This publication discusses the environmental benefits of planting miscanthus — a tall, perennial grass — on lands that otherwise have poor results with traditional row crops.
A new group of cover crops for winter and summer use include mustards, oilseed radishes and turnips. When young, these plants resemble turnip greens, are very succulent and have a low C:N ratio, resulting in rapid decomposition when incorporated into the soil. However, if allowed to mature, bolt and flower, they produce a large amount of biomass in a short period of time and become woody, resulting in slower decomposition than when killed at an immature stage.
This study examined the impact of termination timing on cereal rye biomass across 4 North Carolina locations for 2 growing seasons. Termination times were 4 weeks before and at soybean planting. Biomass samples were collected to determine if delaying termination significantly impacted the biomass achieved by the cereal rye cover. Cereal rye biomass ranged from 1325.4 lbs/acre to 6006.5 lbs/acre across environments and treatments. Delaying termination (Green) resulted in significantly higher cereal rye biomass for only 3 of 8 environments. The remaining 5 environments saw no significant gain in biomass from delaying termination an additional 4 weeks. These results suggest that terminating cereal rye at soybean planting may not be necessary to maximize biomass in our Southeastern climate.
This publication summarizes the results of multiple North Carolina field trials that evaluated agronomic management and alternatives that extend the switchgrass feedstock supply beyond traditional harvest times.
