Establishment, Development and Yield of Forage Legumes and Grasses as Cover Crops in Grain Corn in Eastern Canada

Interseeded cover crops can minimize soil erosion, increase organic matter and nutrient levels and the yield of subsequent crops. However, their performance is very sensitive to local conditions. Field experiments were conducted at two Quebec locations in 1993 and 1994 in order to evaluate the potential use of forage legumes and grasses as interseeds in corn in eastern Canada. Twelve forage species were evaluated. Fall rye (Secale cereale L.), hairy vetch (Vicia villosa Roth), a mixture of red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) and ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam), a mixture of white clover (Trifolium repens L.) and ryegrass, subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum L.), yellow sweet clover (Melilotus officinalis Lam.), black medic (Medicago lupulina L.), Persian clover (Trifolium resupinatum L.), strawberry clover (Trifolium fragiferum L.), crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum L.), annual alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) and berseem clover (Trifolium alexandrinum L.) were seeded at two planting dates (10 and 20 days after corn emergence). The control treatments were: hand weeding, chemical weeding and non-weeded. Early seeded forages established better and had higher biomass accumulation than the late seeded ones. In the presence of larger weed populations, the interseeded forages did not develop well due to competition with the weeds. At Macdonald crimson clover provided good soil cover while Persian clover, fall rye and alfalfa provided relatively little cover. Strawberry clover and hairy vetch did not provide early ground cover due to their late development. Forage mixtures of red or white clover and rye grass established well and achieved high populations at the end of the growing season. Fall rye provided good early ground cover but senesced by the middle of the season. The better establishment and early germination of crimson clover caused a 19 % reduction in corn grain yield in 1993. In 1994 none of the cover crops caused a reduction in corn yield.