Differential survival of alfalfa varieties interseeded into corn silage

Grabber, John H.; Osterholz, William R.; Riday, Heathcliffe; Cassida, K. A.; Williamson, Jessica A.; Renz, Mark

doi:10.1002/csc2.20465

Cited by 7 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…In the seeding year, establishment of alfalfa under the corn was poor in Rosemount 2017 for both treated and untreated alfalfa. This is in contrast to observations of Grabber [13] and Grabber et al [16] who reported a significant increase of alfalfa stem density when PHX was applied to intercropped alfalfa in Wisconsin. However, as in this study, Grabber et al [16] indicated that there was no significant response to PHX on alfalfa stem density in the studies conducted in Michigan and Pennsylvania.…”

Section: Alfalfa Stem and Plant Densitycontrasting

confidence: 99%

“…This is in contrast to observations of Grabber [13] and Grabber et al [16] who reported a significant increase of alfalfa stem density when PHX was applied to intercropped alfalfa in Wisconsin. However, as in this study, Grabber et al [16] indicated that there was no significant response to PHX on alfalfa stem density in the studies conducted in Michigan and Pennsylvania. Grabber et al [16] also reported differences in shade tolerance among alfalfa cultivars, but the cultivars used in this study were not included in the Grabber et al [16] study.…”

Section: Alfalfa Stem and Plant Densitycontrasting

confidence: 99%

“…Plant density in North Dakota and Minnesota environments was lower than expected for a seeding year stand and spring of the year after planting [16,39], however it is not unusual to have extensive winter-kill and plant density reduction during the first winter [38]. Our plant count approach could have underestimated stand density relative to previous research where crowns were dug out.…”

Section: Alfalfa Stem and Plant Densitymentioning

confidence: 57%

“…Similarly, other researchers have reported corn canopy intercepts 80% to 90% of PAR [35,36]. In addition, alfalfa cultivars have different tolerance to shade [16].…”

Section: Alfalfa Forage Yieldmentioning

confidence: 61%

“…Thus, establishing alfalfa together with another crop, such as corn, in the seeding year provides additional revenue for the farmer to offset the low income in the seeding year [14,15]. Several studies have evaluated alfalfa establishment and forage yield benefits of silage corn-alfalfa intercropping in the US [13][14][15][16]. This novel establishment technique has demonstrated potential to increase forage production [15]; however, shading from the corn canopy can hinder alfalfa establishment and seedling survival [13,17].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Alfalfa Established Successfully in Intercropping with Corn in the Midwest US

et al. 2021

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Integrating alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) with corn (Zea mays L.) for grain will increase biodiversity, reduce the negative environmental impact of corn monoculture and increase farm profitability. The objectives of this research were to evaluate forage productivity and nutritive value, along with stand establishment of alfalfa in a corn grain system in Iowa, Minnesota, and North Dakota. The experimental design was a randomized complete block with four replicates at each site. Treatments included were: sole corn (i.e., check; T1), sole alfalfa (T2), alfalfa intercropped into corn (T3), a prohexadione-treated alfalfa intercropped with corn (T4), and a spring-seeded alfalfa in the year after intercropping (T5), which was planted in plots with T1 the previous year. All sites had below normal rainfall in 2016 and 2017. Corn grain yield was significantly lower when intercropped with alfalfa (T3 and T4) compared with the check corn crop (no alfalfa, T1). Corn grain yield reduction ranged from 14.0% to 18.8% compared with the check (T1). Corn biomass yield was reduced by intercropped alfalfa (T3 and T4) by 15.9% to 25.8%. In the seeding year, alfalfa seasonal forage yield was significantly greater when corn competition was absent in all environments. The intercropped alfalfa from the previous season (T3 and T4) had almost double the forage yield than the alfalfa in the seeding year (spring-seeded alfalfa; T5). In the second production year, there were no meaningful forage yield differences (p > 0.05) across all treatments, indicating alfalfa in intercropping systems does not affect forage yield past the first production year. Prohexadione-calcium, a growth regulator, did not affect alfalfa stand density, forage yield and nutritive value. The forage nutritive value was dependent on harvest date not the alfalfa intercropping treatments. Results of our study suggest that establishing alfalfa with corn is feasible and can be a potential alternative for the upper Midwest region. However, when under drought conditions, this system might be less resilient since competition between alfalfa and corn for soil moisture will be intensified under drought or moisture-limited conditions, and this will likely depress corn grain yield. Research targeted to reintroduce perennial crops into the current dominant corn–soybean systems in the US Corn Belt is urgently needed to improve stability and resiliency of production systems.

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Section: Alfalfa Stem and Plant Densitycontrasting

confidence: 99%

Section: Alfalfa Stem and Plant Densitycontrasting

confidence: 99%

Section: Alfalfa Stem and Plant Densitymentioning

confidence: 57%

“…Similarly, other researchers have reported corn canopy intercepts 80% to 90% of PAR [35,36]. In addition, alfalfa cultivars have different tolerance to shade [16].…”

Section: Alfalfa Forage Yieldmentioning

confidence: 61%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Alfalfa Established Successfully in Intercropping with Corn in the Midwest US

et al. 2021

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Establishment of alfalfa interseeded into corn in response to one cycle of selection and hybridization

Grabber

Riday

Enjalbert³

et al. 2023

Crop Science

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Intercropping alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) in corn (Zea mays L.) can improve forage production, but wet growing conditions and high corn yields adversely impact alfalfa establishment. Therefore, we evaluated breeding alfalfa specifically for intercropping by selecting surviving plants from previous alfalfa varietal evaluations under corn and assigning them to five polycrosses to form cycle-1 synthetics. Pollen from four polycrosses was also used to generate hybrid seed using a male-sterility system. Corn was planted in May, intensively managed, and harvested for silage during September at Arlington and Prairie du Sac Wisconsin during 2019. Parental, polycross, and hybrid alfalfa entries were interseeded as swards between corn rows. Two subplots within each whole plot were treated with prohexadione, fungicide, and insecticide (PFI) or left as nontreated controls. Competition from high yielding corn combined with 43% above average precipitation during the growing season contributed to complete stand failure of nontreated alfalfa. Application of PFI improved foliar health, increased root mass, and enabled alfalfa establishment. Following corn silage harvest average stand density of PFI-treated polycross entries was 35% greater than parental entries (105 vs. 78 plants m −2 ); broad-sense heritability was 0.54. Overall, PFI-treated polycross and hybrid entries had similar stand densities after corn, but posthoc comparisons indicated two hybrids had twofold greater stand density than parental entries. These results indicate plant selection can be highly effective for developing polycross and hybrid germplasm with improved survival under corn. Our findings should stimulate further breeding work to improve alfalfa and other forages for use in intercropping systems.

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Intercropping in maize silage versus solo‐seeding for alfalfa establishment in Wisconsin and Idaho

Grabber,

Bjorneberg,

Rogers

2024

Crop Science

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Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) intercropping with maize (Zea mays L.) silage is being developed in the northern United States to improve the profitability and environmental sustainability of forage production. This study, conducted under rainfed conditions in Wisconsin and semiarid irrigated conditions in Idaho, compared the establishment of alfalfa and dry matter yield of four intercropping systems to three conventional systems. The former systems included alfalfa interseeded at planting or the vegetative emergence (VE) stage of maize and grown with or without prohexadione growth retardant. The latter systems included alfalfa seeded in spring, summer‐seeded after barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), or late summer‐seeded after maize silage. Spring seeded and interseeded alfalfa in Wisconsin also received foliar fungicide and insecticide during establishment. During alfalfa establishment, yield of intercropped maize silage was 1.8‐ to 4.4‐fold greater than spring‐seeded alfalfa. Compared to spring‐seeded alfalfa, interseeded alfalfa had similar or somewhat lower stand density but similar first cut yield the following year, provided that intercropped maize was harvested near September 1 to allow ample alfalfa fall regrowth. Shifting interseeding from maize planting to the VE stage decreased early‐season alfalfa growth, but improved maize silage yield, with minor effects on alfalfa fall growth, stand density, and first cut yield. Prohexadione application had little impact on establishment or yield of interseeded alfalfa. While having high plant density, alfalfa seeded after barley or especially maize had less fall growth and low first cut yield. Overall, alfalfa establishment and yield of intercropping systems compared favorably with conventional systems.

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Differential survival of alfalfa varieties interseeded into corn silage

Cited by 7 publications

References 39 publications

Alfalfa Established Successfully in Intercropping with Corn in the Midwest US

Alfalfa Established Successfully in Intercropping with Corn in the Midwest US

Establishment of alfalfa interseeded into corn in response to one cycle of selection and hybridization

Intercropping in maize silage versus solo‐seeding for alfalfa establishment in Wisconsin and Idaho

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