Management of Warm‐Season Annual Grass Residue on Annual Ryegrass Establishment and Production

Abstract

use the warm-season annual grasses that volunteer after ryegrass for grazing or hay. Volunteer warm-season Early-season forage production of annual ryegrass (Lolium grasses, such as crabgrass [Digitaria sanguinalis (L.) multiflorum Lam.) is reduced in the southeastern USA when established no-till rather than with conventional tillage. We hypothesized Scop.] and signalgrass [Urochloa platyphylla (Nash) that annual warm-season grass residue interferes with seedling estab-R.D. Webster; syn. Brachiaria platyphylla (Griseb.) lishment under no-till. In a two-year study, we evaluated six strategies Nash] can be valuable, high-nutritive forages. Murphy for managing residue from warm-season annual grass on annual ryeand Brock (1992) reported first-harvest crabgrassgrass establishment, forage production, and soil moisture. Treatments signalgrass forage to contain 210 g kg Ϫ1 crude protein were (i) no herbicide, mow, and leave residue; (ii) tillage 30 and and 700 g kg Ϫ1 total digestible nutrients. Late in the 7 d before planting; (iii) apply glyphosate [isopropylamine salt of Nsummer, these volunteer grasses must be suppressed (phosphonomethyl)glycine] 30 d before planting, mow, and leave for ryegrass establishment. Generally, suppression of residue; (iv) apply glyphosate 7 d before planting, mow, and leave warm-season annual grasses for early ryegrass establishresidue; (v) apply glyphosate 7 d before planting, apply additional ment has been done with tillage. However, highly eroresidue from twice the plot area (i.e., three times the other residue treatments); and (vi) apply glyphosate 7 d before planting, burn resi-sive and shallow soils, which are common where annual due 1 d before planting. Better stands and more forage production ryegrass is grown in the southeastern USA, make the at first harvest of annual ryegrass were obtained by spraying and adoption of no-till systems critical. Warm-season annual burning residue (two-year average of 96% stand and 0.92 Mg ha Ϫ1grasses that are common in annual ryegrass production yield at the first harvest) or spraying 30 d before planting (92% stand, systems can be suppressed with herbicides (Johnson and 0.92 Mg ha Ϫ1 ) than when annual ryegrass was planted into a 3ϫ . Therefore, no-till ryegrass establishment residue (55% stand, 0.24 Mg ha Ϫ1 ). Soil moisture at planting did systems should produce early-season forage comparable not cause differences in stand establishment among treatments. We to that of tilled systems, while minimizing erosion. Howconclude that managing residue during no-till establishment by conever, early-season forage production of annual ryegrass trolling warm-season annual grasses and burning or controlling warmseason annual grasses 30 d before planting can improve stands and has been less in no-till than in tilled systems (Allen et forage production of annual ryegrass. ment systems for annual ryegrass (Allen et al.

Seeding cool‐season grasses into unimproved warm‐season pasture in the southern Great Plains of the United States

“…Cool‐season grasses can be established by no‐till drilling into dormant, or nearly dormant, unimproved warm‐season pasture without suppression by herbicides of resident pasture. However, established populations of cool‐season grasses were greater when no‐till drilling into stubble of Korean lespedeza occurred or when sown into tilled ground, and this is consistent with other work that has demonstrated that establishment of over‐seeded grasses may be enhanced by suppression or destruction of resident vegetation (Samson and Moser, 1982; Cuomo et al. , 1999).…”

Residue Management and Water Delivery Effects on Season-Long Surface Soil Water Dynamics in Soybean

“…However, in this study, burning did not affect soil organic matter (Table 3), which was similar to results of previous studies (Beale and Langdale, 1967;Brye et al, 2006;Kelley and Sweeney, 1998;Undersander and Reiger, 1985), or bulk density (Table 3), a result similar to Beale and Langdale (1967) and Brye et al (2006). Alternatively, burning has been reported to negatively impact soil organic matter (Sanford, 1982;Cuomo et al, 1999) and waterstable aggregates (Wuest et al, 2005). Although water-stable aggregates have been reported to be positively related to infiltration (Wuest et al, 2005), residue burning has been shown to be unrelated to infiltration (Undersander and Reiger, 1985;Wuest et al, 2005).…”

“…legislation pending in other states, because of safety, liability, and air-quality issues (Cuomo et al, 1999). As expected, the nonburned treatment consistently dried out more slowly than the burn treatment, as indicated by a numerically less negative regression slope in all rainfall (Table 1; Fig.…”

“…However, Rasmussen and Parton (1994) suggested that 20 to 30 years of residue burning in semiarid regions are required to define the potential adverse effects of burning on soil organic matter and crop yields. In addition to removing the residue that could otherwise return organic matter to the soil, burning crop residues releases carbon dioxide and particulate matter into the atmosphere, which negatively impacts air quality (Cuomo et al, 1999) and exacerbates the greenhouse effect and global warming.…”

Cost-effectiveness of Different Revegetation Techniques for Slender Banksia

“…Most federal and state restoration projects in Louisiana require 'Vermilion' smooth cordgrass variety because it is known to survive and perform well based upon scientific evaluations and successful use in restoration projects (Fine and Thomassie 2000). Stubble removed by burning or mowing is known to increase plant and seed yields in perennial crops (Thompson and Clark 1989, Young et al 1998, Cuomo et al 1999, Meints et al 2001, Bueno et al 2007) and could also increase stem yields of aquatic plants, such as smooth cordgrass. Efficient and economical methods to produce smooth cordgrass in freshwater plant production nurseries are essential to provide large numbers of plants for wetland management projects.…”