Conservation Reserve Program to Row Crop Demonstration

The demonstration project was designed to examine one way of preparing Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) land for row crop production. Many producers have successfully converted CRP land for this purpose; additionally, there was an opportunity for the research farm to gain experience in this area. The goal of the project was to document one way of going through the process

Corn Yield Effects in a Corn-Soybean Strip Cropping System

This project was designed to study the effects of planting corn and soybeans in 12-row strips as compared with planting corn as a single crop in a field. The reasoning behind planting corn and soybeans in strips is derived from the belief that corn plants will be better able to intercept light if more plants are exposed to an open edge like that found at the corn-soybean border. Interest in this study was derived from an article in the popular press where corn yields were reported to increase by as much as 100 bushels/acre when planted to strips of corn and soybeans. This study was designed to determine if a yield increase is possible and to see which corn rows in the strip are contributing to the yield increase

Vertical Tillage Study

This project at the Southeast Research and Demonstration Farm was a four-year project designed to study the yield effects of vertical tillage systems compared with conventional and no-till systems in corn and soybeans. There has been increasing interest in vertical tillage systems in recent years, so the goal of this project was to compile information on these various cropping systems

Farm and Weather Summary

Includes: Farm Comments Crop Season Comments Weather Comment

2001 Crop Season

Soil moisture levels were adequate to surplus going into the growing season, due in part to heavy precipitation during the fall and winter months of 2000/2001. March precipitation was below average, but little, if any, fieldwork was done during this time because the soils stayed cool and wet. Small-grain planting and anhydrous ammonia applications were not made until mid–April, but corn and soybean planting were not far behind. Planting began on April 18 and continued through April 20, when heavy rain prevented fieldwork until April 30. Planting then continued through most of May despite more heavy rains. Little fieldwork was done between May 3 and June 10, after which most of the remaining crops were planted

2000 Crop Season

Soil moisture levels were adequate going into the growing season, but March precipitation was below average. Consequently, small grains were planted early and anhydrous ammonia applications were made in a timely manner. Corn and soybean planting began during the second half of April, with most of the corn planted by May 4 and most of the soybeans by May 23

Southeast Research Farm Summary

Includes: Farm and Weather Summar