Pennycress as a Cash Cover-Crop: Improving the Sustainability of Sweet Corn Production Systems

Commercial sweet corn (Zea mays convar. saccharata var. rugosa) production has a proportionally high potential for nutrient loss to waterways, due to its high nitrogen (N) requirements and low N use efficiency. Cover crops planted after sweet corn can help ameliorate N lost from the field, but farme...

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Published inAgronomy (Basel) Vol. 10; no. 5; p. 614
Main Authors Moore, Sarah A., Wells, M. Scott, Gesch, Russ W., Becker, Roger L., Rosen, Carl J., Wilson, Melissa L.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 01.05.2020
Subjects
Agricultural practices
Agricultural production
Agriculture
Biomass
Catch crops
Corn
cover crop
Cover crops
Crop yield
Crops
Economic incentives
Fertilization
Fertilizers
Harvest
Loam soils
Microthlaspi
Nitrogen
nitrogen management
Nutrient loss
Nutrient requirements
Precipitation
Rain
Seeding
Seeds
Soybeans
Studies
Sustainability
Sweetcorn
Thlaspi arvense L
Waterways
Zea mays convar. saccharata var. rugosa
United States > US
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Summary:Commercial sweet corn (Zea mays convar. saccharata var. rugosa) production has a proportionally high potential for nutrient loss to waterways, due to its high nitrogen (N) requirements and low N use efficiency. Cover crops planted after sweet corn can help ameliorate N lost from the field, but farmers are reluctant to utilize cover crops due to a lack of economic incentive. Pennycress (Thlaspi arvense L.) is a winter annual that can provide both economic and environmental benefits. Five N-rates (0, 65, 135, 135 split and 200) were applied pre-plant to sweet corn. After the sweet corn harvest, pennycress was planted into the sweet corn residue with two seeding methods and harvested for seed the following spring. Residual inorganic soil N (Nmin), pennycress biomass, biomass N and yield were measured. The nitrogen rate and seeding method had no effect on pennycress yield, biomass, or biomass N content. The nitrogen rate positively affected Nmin at pennycress seeding, wherein 200N plots had 38–80% higher Nmin than 0N plots, but had no effect on Nmin at pennycress harvest. Control treatments without pennycress had an average of 27–42% greater Nmin. In conclusion, pennycress can act as an effective N catch crop, and produce an adequate seed yield after sweet corn without the need for supplemental fertilization.
ISSN:2073-4395
2073-4395
DOI:10.3390/agronomy10050614