Cover Crop-Based No Till


What is Organic No-Till?

This practice entails planting a cash crop directly into a cover crop, relying on the cover crop mulch to suppress weeds and prepare a seedbed without tillage. With adequate biomass, this system can effectively suppress annual weeds for the duration of the growing season, and can have other benefits such as improved soil health and reduced risk of erosion. Cereal rye is the most common cover crop used in this system due to its winter hardiness, vigor and weed suppression. Soybean can be planted either into a standing cover crop before roll-crimping or after rolling in a one-pass operation. Especially when rolling before planting, a no-till planter with appropriate coulters and down-pressure is crucial to good soybean establishment and growth.

Organic No-till Soybean Production Guide 

This guide aims to help farmers who are interested in using the rolled cover crop organic no-till soybean system. We start with an overview of soil health and organic management, and then outline the process of growing a cereal rye cover crop, terminating it with a roller-crimper, and no-till planting soybean into the residue. Despite clear benefits, this production system can be challenging, and further research and on-farm trials are still needed.

Organic No-Till Soybean Production Guide

No-till Resources:

No Till Planter and Planting Depth Setup with Chris Pelzer
Recording: Matt Ryan — Obstacles and options with organic no-till soybean

New Tools for Supplemental Weed Management in Organic No-till Soybean

Weed between the lines: Inter-row mowing for weed control in row crops
Video: Weed Between the Lines: Inter-row mowing
Article: Mowing, Zapping, and Outcompeting Weeds: Opportunities and Trade-Offs
Video: Many little hammers: tools for weed management in soybeans
Recording: Annika Rowland MS Seminar — Integrated Weed Management in Organic, No-Till Planted Soybean (starts at 31:06)

New Cover Crop x Cash Crop Sequences for Organic No-Till 

Report: Searching For Successful Organic No-Till Sequences
Video: Summer Trial — New Crops for Organic No-Till

Comparing performance of alternative winter cereal cover crops to cereal rye in organic no-till systems

Check out how cover crop mixtures and early-season shading influence organic soybeans in NY State.
Screen Shot 2015-06-01 at 2.45.11 PM
Watch Jeff Liebert’s Soil and Crop Sciences Departmental Seminar about roller crimping barley and rye for soybean production

Effects of soybean and cereal rye seeding rates on organic no-till yield and weed suppression

poster
Explore the effects of high soybean planting rates on weeds, yields, and profitability in organic no-till.

Photo Gallery — snapshots of our research