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SC Minnesota | I have been no-till and cereal rye covers for many years and have struggled to have the chance to plant beans early due to the ground not being fit in April. This year I had a few fields strip-tilled ahead of beans that were fit and planted early in April and had a ten bushel gain over the fields planted a month later when the ground was fit (both no-till and a couple strip-till planted late) and after the corn was planted. The cereal rye was not killed off until the beans were v2-v3, about 5 weeks after planting. For me, the cereal rye helps dry out the surface to get the crops in timely (same time as the rest of the neighbors) and eliminates the need for pre-emerge residuals. This is in SCMN with heavy clay loams that have very high water holding capacities. In our cold wet soils the risk from cereal rye getting too big and reducing yields is lower than a lot of other areas that can dry quickly giving me a wider window to kill it. It's what I see here. | |
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Cover crops and early beans
