Description
Integrated crop-livestock systems can potentially produce more product per unit of land with minimal impacts on soil health and cash crop quality. In the Upper Midwest there is an opportunity to graze fall cover crops (CC) after winter wheat in a corn-wheat rotation. In East Lansing, Michigan, two CC treatments: 1) a pure brassica mixture (PURE), and 2) a complex mixture containing legumes, warm and cool season grasses, and brassicas (MIX) were planted after wheat, and grazed by lambs in the fall seasons of 2019 to 2021. The following year, soil health, corn yield and quality were measured from plots corresponding to a non-grazed control and plots grazed in October, November, and December. There was no significant effect on spring soil bulk density and penetration resistance (PR) regardless of CC mixture or the timing of grazing, although PR was numerically higher in the grazed plots. Corn crude protein, acid detergent fiber, and neutral detergent fiber were not different across graze date or CC treatments (P > 0.05), although corn contained more starch when grown after MIX grazed in November (P=0.02). The difference in starch was possibly an artifact of spatial variability across the site. Corn dry matter yield was lower in the non-grazed control (15.35 Mg ha-1) when compared to the grazing treatments in October (17.37 Mg ha-1) and December (17.19 Mg ha-1) (P=0.03). Grazing cover crops in the fall may improve corn yield the following year without causing soil compaction or changing corn quality.
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Corn Silage Yield and Quality, and Soil Health Metrics After Fall Cover Crop Grazing
Integrated crop-livestock systems can potentially produce more product per unit of land with minimal impacts on soil health and cash crop quality. In the Upper Midwest there is an opportunity to graze fall cover crops (CC) after winter wheat in a corn-wheat rotation. In East Lansing, Michigan, two CC treatments: 1) a pure brassica mixture (PURE), and 2) a complex mixture containing legumes, warm and cool season grasses, and brassicas (MIX) were planted after wheat, and grazed by lambs in the fall seasons of 2019 to 2021. The following year, soil health, corn yield and quality were measured from plots corresponding to a non-grazed control and plots grazed in October, November, and December. There was no significant effect on spring soil bulk density and penetration resistance (PR) regardless of CC mixture or the timing of grazing, although PR was numerically higher in the grazed plots. Corn crude protein, acid detergent fiber, and neutral detergent fiber were not different across graze date or CC treatments (P > 0.05), although corn contained more starch when grown after MIX grazed in November (P=0.02). The difference in starch was possibly an artifact of spatial variability across the site. Corn dry matter yield was lower in the non-grazed control (15.35 Mg ha-1) when compared to the grazing treatments in October (17.37 Mg ha-1) and December (17.19 Mg ha-1) (P=0.03). Grazing cover crops in the fall may improve corn yield the following year without causing soil compaction or changing corn quality.
