Evaluating Winter Cover Crops on Cotton Performance

Cover crops have the potential to improve soil fertility, break pest cycles, and sequester carbon; however, there is some debate over how they affect soil water reserve for the subsequent crop. This study was a split plot design with the study field split between no-till and conventionally tilled. Each tillage treatment was then split into the individual cover-crop plots of: Rye (Secale cereale)) & Vetch (Vicia villosa), Wheat (Triticum aestivum)/Clover (Trifolium incarnatum), Winter Pea (Pisum sativum), and Fallow. There were six replicates of each combination of treatments. Cover crops were planted in November 2017 and were terminated with glyphosate in April 2018. Following cover crop termination, all plots were planted with cotton. Weeds were controlled with glyphosate; however, the field developed a problem with resistant Amaranth (Amaranthus palmeri). Soil moisture as monitored in a sample of plots throughout the growing season with the Campbell Scientific CS655. Cover crop biomass, cotton plant height, weed prevalence, and cotton yield were all measured. Results from this project will be presented at the meeting.