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Full-Text Articles in Plant Sciences
Cover Crop Mixtures Do Not Use Water Differently Than Single-Species Plantings, David C. Nielsen, Drew J. Lyon, Gary W. Hergert, Robert K. Higgins, Francisco J. Calderon, Merle F. Vigil
Cover Crop Mixtures Do Not Use Water Differently Than Single-Species Plantings, David C. Nielsen, Drew J. Lyon, Gary W. Hergert, Robert K. Higgins, Francisco J. Calderon, Merle F. Vigil
David C. Nielsen
Recent recommendations advocating the use of cover crop mixtures instead of single-species in semi-arid environments require rigorous scientific studies. One of those stated benefits is greatly reduced water use by cover crops grown in mixtures. The objectives of this study were to characterize soil water extraction patterns and determine water use of cover crops grown in single species plantings and in a 10-species mixture and to compare cover crop water use to evaporative water loss from no-till fallow. The study was conducted at Akron, CO, and Sidney, NE, during the 2012 and 2013 growing seasons on silt loam soils. At …