Browsing by Subject "Cover Crops"
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Item Advancements in Forage Management: Grazing Horses on Cover Crops and Exploring Hand-Held NIRS Technology(2021-06) Prigge, JessicaForages are an important part of the equine diet. Although many Midwestern pastures are comprised of cool season grasses and legumes, annual cover crops can help extend the grazing season to offset the reliance on preserved forages like hay. Therefore, the objectives of the first study were to determine forage mass, forage nutrient composition, and preference of cover crops grazed by horses. Forage nutrient composition of fresh or preserved forages is important when balancing horse rations. Near infrared reflectance spectroscopy is a reliable laboratory analysis tool and has rapidly been developed for in-field use. However, nutrient prediction equations are species specific and forages such as alfalfa have not been analyzed in the field. Thus, the objectives of the second study were to develop and validate nutrient prediction equations for fresh alfalfa using a hand-held near infrared reflectance spectroscopy unit in the field.Item Four Cover Crops Dual-Cropped With Soybean: Agronomics, Income, And Nutrient Uptake Across Minnesota(2018-02) Ott, MatthewMany agricultural watersheds in Minnesota have toxic levels of phosphorus and nitrogen, much of which originates in agricultural fields that are fallowed from October through May. Autumn-sown winter cover crops can be used to retain these nutrients. Soil NO3-N levels and and quantities of N sequestered by winter rye (Secale cereale), Tillage Radish® (Raphanus sativus), and the oilseed crops, winter camelina (Camelina sativa), and pennycress (Thlaspi arvense) were evaluated in a relayed cover crop/soybean production system at three sites spanning the north-south climatic gradient of Minnesota. Tillage Radish® sequestered the most N in autumn, but winter-killed and had high soil NO3-N levels in spring. Winter rye was terminated chemically by early May at each site, whereas the oilseed crops were allowed to grow into June to full maturity and their seeds were harvested. In autumn through early May, winter camelina and pennycress sequestered about 25% less N than winter rye. However, they often sequestered ≥ 2.5 times more N than winter rye when compared at maximum seasonal biomass (up to 130 kg N ha-1), with some of this N coming from spring fertilizer application. The relative amount of applied N captured by oilseeds, defined here as applied N sequestration efficiency, was 95% and 68% for winter camelina and pennycress, respectively. Winter camelina yields ranged from 600 to 1100 kg ha-1, while pennycress yields ranged from 900 kg ha-1 to 1550 kg ha-1. When combined with yields of relay-cropped soybean, net income for relay-crop systems was generally equivalent to mono-cropped soybean.