Alfalfa establishment by interseeding with silage corn projected to increase profitability of corn silage–alfalfa rotations

Abstract

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Intercropping Alfalfa into Silage Maize Can Be More Profitable Than Maize Silage Followed by Spring-Seeded Alfalfa

“…However, the study in Wisconsin was done at lower maize grain prices than in our study, which was calculated with a grain price of $177 Mg −1 . Thus, the net return of silage maize rotations were similar to those calculated for a two-year sequence of silage maize ($379 Mg −1 ) The alfalfa forage yield used by Osterholz et al [17] in the economic analysis were very similar to those used in our analysis. Osterholz et al [17] used alfalfa forage yields of 11.4 Mg ha −1 and 5.8 Mg ha −1 for alfalfa coming from intercropping with maize in the previous year and spring-seeded alfalfa, respectively.…”

“…Silage yield losses between treatments were not observed in this study. However, similar research has shown that intercropping maize with alfalfa usually has a yield penalty of up to 30% [17]. Thus, we included a sensitivity analysis of net returns with a price of $41.1 Mg −1 silage maize at 65% moisture, and $166 Mg −1 for 0 to 30% silage yield losses due to intercropping.…”

“…Sensitivity analysis for total net return after two years for three 2-year sequences: maize followed by maize, alfalfa intercropped with maize, and maize followed by spring-seeded alfalfa. Osterholz et al [17] compared several rotations of maize and alfalfa with and without intercropping and the annual net return ranged between $303 to $367 ha −1 . All annual returns in this study were positive as were the biennial sequences estimated in our study.…”

“…All annual returns in this study were positive as were the biennial sequences estimated in our study. Osterholz et al [17] net returns were calculated with a higher silage maize yield of 20.3 Mg DM ha −1 , while in our study, we used only 13.8 Mg DM ha −1 , which corresponds to the average biomass yield across locations obtained in the experiment. However, the study in Wisconsin was done at lower maize grain prices than in our study, which was calculated with a grain price of $177 Mg −1 .…”

“…Although the potential of alfalfa-maize silage intercropping system has been studied and reported in Wisconsin in the USA [11,[15][16][17], it is unknown whether this system is adapted to a broader range of environments and maize row spacing. The objectives of this research were: (1) to determine if establishment of alfalfa in intercropping with maize affects forage yield and alfalfa plant density, (2) to evaluate if maize row spacing and the application of PHX influences alfalfa establishment in intercropping and maize yield, and (3) to determine if the returns over two growing seasons are higher for alfalfa established through intercropping with silage maize or silage-maize followed by spring-seeded alfalfa the following year.…”