Cover Crop strategies for Dry Bean and Soybean Crops in Manitoba

Crop Dry Bean, Soybean
Start Date2017
End Date2020
Principal InvestigatorLawley, Yvonne, University of Manitoba
MPSG Financial Support$455,400
Total Project Funding$455,400
ReportLawley – Cover Crop – MPSG Extension 2019

Research Objectives

  1. Cover Crops for Dry Beans
    • Two cover crop windows for dry beans will be explored, before and after the dry bean crop
      • Before Dry Beans - Winter cereal (Rye), Spring cereal (Oats), Brassica (Radish), and a 3-species mixture
      • After Dry Bean Harvest - winter cereals (rye), warm season annuals (sorghum Sudan, buckwheat, cowpeas, azuki beans), and cool season annuals (oats, radish, faba beans, field peas).
  2. Cover Crops for Soybeans
    • Termination timing of rye cover crops
  3. Quantifying Cover Crop Outcomes On-Farm

Project Description

Pulse and soybean growers are already incorporating cover crops into their rotations in Mantioba and many others are looking for information on how they might incorporate them into their rotation. Dr. Yvonne Lawley at the University of Manitoba is frequently asked for sources of local information on the performance, benefits, and costs of shoulder season cover crops. At this time, that information is not available for Manitoba. There is a real need and opportunity to provide farmers and agronomists in Manitoba with information to guide decision making about cover crops in crop rotations that include both dry beans and soybeans in Manitoba. This proposal aims to address some of the most frequently asked questions about cover crop management and species selection and focuses on cover crop windows for dry bean and soybean crops in Manitoba. This project is designed to find synergies with other projects proposed to start at the University of Manitoba. This project will also engage with the MPSG On-Farm Research Network by working with farmers that are innovating on-farm to quantify cover crop performance and their short term benefits/impact to their soil and subsequent crops.