Yellow rattle is a hemiparasitic weed that is becoming increasingly problematic in hay fields in the northeastern United States. The biomass of yellow rattle was assessed in two experiments in which commercially available soil amendments were applied to an infested hay field under no-till management. The amendments were applied in the fall of 2010 and 2011 and included wood ash, biochar, hardwood sawdust, lime, and K. Wood ash applied at a rate of 8,967 kg ha−1 (4 tons per acre) had the greatest suppressive effect and reduced yellow rattle biomass the following summer by 86 and 92% relative to the untreated control in Experiments 1 and 2, respectively. Two additional treatments included in Experiment 2, a doubled rate of wood ash and sawdust applied at a rate of 13,450 kg ha−1, also reduced yellow rattle biomass. No other treatments affected yellow rattle biomass. A partial least-squares regression (PLSR) analysis that included aboveground plant community and soil biochemical data explained only 42.4% of the variation in yellow rattle biomass, suggesting that the mechanisms responsible for the suppression of yellow rattle by wood ash and sawdust are complex. Amending hay fields with wood ash or sawdust may be an effective nonherbicide strategy for managing yellow rattle infestations. Additional research will be required to determine the mechanisms and generality of yellow rattle suppression by wood ash and sawdust amendments to the soil.
Increasing the abundance of legumes in mixed pasture and hayfield stands can improve forage nutritional quality and nutrient cycling; however, establishing legumes can be difficult, especially without tillage or chemical suppression of existing vegetation. Soil amendments that reduce the competitiveness of the existing plant community or improve the vigor of interseeded legumes could reduce the need for more intensive management practices at the time of interseeding. We compared a range of commercially available soil amendments for their effects on the no-till establishment of hairy vetch (Vicia villosa Roth) interseeded into an existing sod. Amendment treatments were applied in September and included wood ash, biochar, lime, and K applied at different rates, and unamended tilled and untilled treatments as controls. Hairy vetch was no-till interseeded immediately after treatment application and biomass was measured the subsequent June. Results were consistent across the two site-years and indicated that an intermediate rate of wood ash (8967 kg ha −1 ) increased hairy vetch biomass in the spring by 8.5 and 12.4 times compared to the tilled and unamended controls, respectively. We used nonparametric multiplicative regression (NPMR) to explore the relationship between soil physical and chemical properties and hairy vetch biomass across a range of wood ash application rates.We found that soil K alone explained 42% of the variability in hairy vetch biomass. This research suggests that wood ash soil amendments may improve the chances of successfully interseeding legumes into perennial forage crops without the use of herbicide or tillage to suppress the existing plant community.
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