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No-till planting organic soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr.) into
rolled-crimped cereal rye (Secale cereale L.) can improve soil health
while decreasing labor and fuel costs but yield declines from
tillage-based production hinder wider adoption. In addition to soil
moisture depletion, nitrogen (N) tie-up in cereal rye biomass and cool
soil temperatures under mulches may contribute to yield differences by
decreasing N availability early in the production system before the onset
of biological N fixation. A field experiment was conducted to determine if
starter fertilizers could increase early-season soybean growth and
subsequent yields. Over five site-years in New York and Wisconsin on
organically managed land, soybeans were no-till planted into
rolled-crimped cereal rye and four treatments were applied in a randomized
complete block design: feather meal (FM), poultry litter (PL), and sodium
nitrate (SN) starter fertilizer treatments supplied at 28 kg N ha-1 and a
zero fertilizer control. Early-season growth, weed biomass, soybean
biomass, soybean density, and soybean yield were compared among
treatments. The relationships between soybean yield and these other
variables were also explored. Some differences among treatments were
observed in early-season growth, but the results were inconsistent and
only found in two site-years. Soybean yield did not differ between the
control (2664 kg ha-1) and any treatment (FM: 2760, PL: 2812, and SN: 2769
kg ha-1), though greater cereal rye biomass and soybean density were
associated with higher yield. The results suggest that soybeans in organic
cover crop-based no-till production do not consistently respond to starter
fertilizer.
24 views reported since publication in 2023.