Summer Cover Crop Influence on Fall Vegetable Production

One of the major challenges confronting vegetable growers is to manage weeds in a sustainable way. Herbicides often are the primary tools to manage weeds but growers are interested in utilizing sustainable and environmentally conscious tools for weed management. Cover crops are gaining popularity and recognition as a tool that can manage weeds, build organic matter, suppress erosion, and improve soil quality and health. The goal of this project was to evaluate four cover crops for weed suppression and their effects on yields of fall vegetables. The four cover crops studied were buckwheat (coolseason broadleaf), cowpea (warm-season broadleaf), oats (cool-season grass), and sorghum sudangrass (warm-season grass)