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2. Opportunities and challenges for cover cropping in sustainable agriculture systems in southern australia
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Nordblom, Thomas (author), Gurusinghe, Saliya (author), Erbacher, Andrew (author), and Weston, Leslie A. (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2023-03-15
- Published:
- Switzerland: MDPI
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 206 Document Number: D12865
- Journal Title:
- Journal of Agriculture
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol. 13, N.3
- Notes:
- 17 pages, Southern Australian farming systems operate predominantly under Mediterranean climatic conditions, which limit the choice of cover crops suitable for enhancement of ground cover and soil moisture retention, erosion control, atmospheric soil nitrogen (N) fixation, and weed suppression between cash crop rotations. Given that the successful establishment of cover crops is climate-driven and also influenced by edaphic factors such as soil pH and salinity, there has been increased interest by southern Australian producers in identifying potential cover crop species well adapted to specific Australian farming systems, which provide vital ecosystem services and sustainable economic benefits through the improvement of soil properties. This review summarises recent findings on cover crop inclusion in diverse farming systems in southern Australia, including continuous and mixed broadacre cropping as well as viticulture and horticulture systems, to identify opportunities and limitations related to their use. Cover crop inclusion in viticulture and pasture systems with lower moisture stress was observed to benefit the subsequent cash crop through enhanced production potential. Long-term, multi-site field experimentation incorporating summer cover crops in winter crop rotations showed that cover crops enhanced ground cover and soil water infiltration in some locations across southern Australia while sometimes increasing winter crop yield, suggesting that soil type and regional climatic conditions greatly influenced the delivery of multiple cover crop benefits. Collectively, these studies have suggested a need for longer-term field evaluations using multiple cover crop species and investigations of termination options under varying environmental and soil conditions to better quantify the legacy effects of cover crops.
3. The economics of cover crops and no-till
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Format:
- Research summary
- Publication Date:
- 2017
- Published:
- USA
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 169 Document Number: D08994
- Notes:
- Datu Case Studies, Datu Research, Durham, North Carolina. Summary of a case study posted on the website of the National Association of Conservation Districts, Washington, D.C. 2 pages., Study shows adoption of conservation practices boosted net income $83-110 per acre.