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Extremes of Moisture: Using plants to manage extreme moisture

Crop Types
  • Whole Farm
Collaborating Locations

Background

This project consisted of two parts, an on farm experiment and a small plot experiment. In the on-farm experiment four fields prone to excess moisture were identified to establish if overwintering cover crops established in the fall will facilitate fall and spring soil drying and have a positive impact on future crop yields. In the small plot experiments traditional agronomy experiments were established on loam and clay textured soil to evaluate management practices to "green seed" into living rye cover crops. Treatments analyzed timing of rye termination and the use of strip tillage.

This project is a sub-project of a multi-collaborator project on the Extremes of Moisture.

View all Extremes of Moisture projects

Key Takeaways

Soil moisture was lower with the rye cover crop at deeper depths of 100 and 600 cm relative to the no cover crop control. Using winter cereal cover crops ahead of soybean as a tool to manage extreme moisture while maintaining soybean yield is showing promise.

Project Details

Principal Investigator
Dr. Yvonne Lawley
Project Status
Completed
Start Date
2019
Completion Date
2022
Funding Partners
MCGA, MPSG, MB Agriculture
Total Project Cost
51597
MCA Funding
1

Field Issues

  • Abiotic Stress,
  • Crop Rotation,
  • Soil

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