MSU Weeds.com Blog

-E. Taylor

This week we began planting for the OREI organic dry bean project looking at how cover crops influence nitrogen availability, dry bean and weed emergence, disease and insect pressure and yields. We kicked off planting on June 12th  at the Student Organic Farm on campus. The soil is very dry, so we are hoping to get some rain soon to encourage emergence. Next week we will be planting at the Kellogg Biological Station and the four on-farm trials should be planted within the next week or so also.

-E. Taylor

What a difference two weeks can make! When working with rye as a cover crop the ideal incorporation time we aim for is around 18″ in height. If rye is allowed to progress further it is more likely to reduce the availability of nitrogen for the cash crop. Large rye can also tie up moisture and create a cloddy seedbed that may stress the cash crop. Last year we had a rainy period in April/May that prevented incorporation of our rye at the Student Organic Farm (SOF) until it reached a height of over 40″, which resulted in dry bean yield reductions in those plots at the end of the season. This year we were able to incorporate the SOF rye just before this latest wet streak, but we were not able to incorporate the rye at the Kellogg Biological Station (KBS) before the site received nearly 2″ of rain . The KBS rye jumped from 15-18″ on April 25th to as high as 56″ and heading out on May 8th! Thirty-eight inches in 14 days, wow! Because the soil was still too wet this week to chisel plow at KBS we flail mowed the cover crop and will incorporate it as soon as possible. Will this large rye negatively impact the dry bean crop at KBS? Stay tuned.

Rye height at SOF at the time of incorporation in 2012

Rye height at the time of mowing at KBS in 2012

-E. Taylor

In an effort to see if the cover crop present before dry bean planting affects bean maturity I rated maturity of the 4 different bean varieties under the 4 different cover crop treatments yesterday at the Student Organic Farm. I’ll know more after I do the official analysis, but it does appear that at this site rye may have caused the beans to mature faster. I will be presenting this information along with affects on yield, population, and weed density at the North Central Weed Science Society meeting in December.

Sept. 28- #5 rating (least mature)

Sept. 28- #1 rating (most mature, ready for harvest)

*Note that these two photos are of different variety beans.