Winter Cover Crops for Reducing Nitrate-N Losses from Drained Lands

Gary Sands, Associate Professor
Bruce Wilson, Professor
Gary Feyereisen, Graduate Fellow
Paul Porter, Professor, Agronomy and Plant Genetics

Funding Source

USDA-National Needs Fellowship

Objective

To quantify the probability that winter rye is effective at reducing nitrate-nitrogen losses from drained agricultural lands.

Need or Impact

Minnesota data exist that demonstrate a potential for using winter cover crops to remove excess water and nitrate-N from the soil profile during late fall and early spring. This project will demonstrate the feasibility of this practice over a wide range of climatic variability. Results indicate that fall sowing and spring kill dates are crucial in the feasibility of this practice.

Project Status

Research was completed in 2005.