Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

The meeting was held on July 6 and 7, 2021 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Baton Rouge, LA as part of the summer board meeting of the Southern Cover Crop Council (SCCC). On July 6 the meeting focused on the process of data verification for the SCCC Cover Crop Species Selector Tool. The tool will be based on the Northeast Cover Crop Council’s (NECCC) tool and thus the discussion was led by Victoria Ackroyd from the NECCC. Input was provided on distinct cover crop species as well as cover crop groups that should be included in the Selector Tool. Potential and up-and-coming cover crops were also suggested for inclusion.

On July 7, Carlene Chase introduced the objectives of the multi-state cover crop hatch project. There are 5 objectives, and each objective has a leader. Dr. Chase presented the report for Objective 1 (Identify a common set of biological and economic measures that can be applied across crop and cover crop combinations throughout the region to generate a region-wide database), which was prepared by Jake Mowrer. The Objective 1 team is planning to look at various soil health indicators, assess their value, and rank the indices. The team will also focus on undergraduate and graduate training. Objective 1 team identified 3 stakeholder groups that should be considered when selecting appropriate soil health indicators: researchers, service labs, and producers. The team is currently working on a review paper on the applicability of soil health indices to the southeastern region.

Audrey Gamble presented the report for Objective 2 [Select and evaluate summer and winter cover crop germplasm for regional adaptability and determine the appropriate timing of planting, seeding rates, utilization of cover crop goods (includes grazing), and termination to optimize benefits without adversely affecting cash crop cycles]. Dr. Gamble presented results from two multi-state trials on seeding rates for cool-season grain cover crops and cool-season legume cover crops that were conducted as part of this objective. The team will repeat the cool-season legume trial evaluation in Fall 2021.

Mike Mulvaney presented the report for Objective 3 (Assess the influence of cover crops on soil moisture, nutrient cycling, and soil microbiology). Objective 3 team is meeting at quarterly intervals and leveraging results from ongoing cover crop projects. The Objective 3 team categorized ongoing research into different groups involving nutrient cycling, soil moisture, soil microbiology, and crop rotations. The team is planning to continue the meetings and leveraging activities.

Carlene Chase presented the report for Objective 4 (Characterize cover crop efficacy for enhancing cropping system resilience to weeds, pests, and plant pathogens). An update was provided for two studies: (1) a national USDA-NIFA-funded study aimed at elucidating the effect of cover crop termination timing on pests, diseases, and corn performance and (2) developing seeding rate recommendations for US-1136, US-1137, and US-1138 cowpea cover crop germplasm lines. Cowpea biomass production, weed suppression, and resistance to root-knot nematode infestation will be assessed in summer 2021.

Mickie Swisher and Jorge Ruiz-Menjivar provided the report for Objective 5 (Generate an economic database that researchers, technical advisors, and farmers can use to assess the short and long-term economic outcomes of cover crop use). The team submitted a USDA AFRI proposal that was not funded. This team is also working on a manuscript and developing a questionnaire on the adoption of cover crops and economic indicators. The team is planning to expand Grower Think Tank participation to farmers in other states who are involved in on-farm trials.

The reports were followed by a planning discussion for the 2021-22 cool season cover crop study to be led by Audrey Gamble. This will be a repetition of the study that was conducted in 2019-20. Very few locations performed the study in 2020-21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In Fall 2021, more locations will be added based on interest from SCCC members and Hatch project participants. Discussion involved seeding rates, planter selection, experimental design, plot size and data collection details. Closing remarks were given by the USDA NIFA representatives, Vance Owens and Mathieu Ngouajio.

Objective 1: Concepts have been proposed for (1) grouping soil health indices by soil property evaluated (not just biological indicators, but also physical and chemical) and (2) assessing the value of each relevant soil health indicator based on stakeholder group affected. An authorship team has been formed to prepare a review manuscript on the applicability of soil health indices to the southeastern region. A full outline has been prepared, and several pages of content and Alabama soil quality test data have been contributed. Plans for the upcoming year include seeking soil health-specific funding opportunities as an objective team.

Objective 2: Cover crops can create sustainable crop production systems while protecting soil and water resources. Evaluation of cover crop germplasm across multiple locations is useful to harness the full potential of cover crops to provide sought benefits. A meeting was held on August 3, 2021, to discuss potential projects related to germplasm evaluation for cover crops in the southern US region. Collaborators in nine states signed up to participate in a multi-state trial to evaluate winter legume cover crop species and seeding rates. This study will assess productivity and adaptability of winter legume cover crops and will be used to develop site-specific recommendations for legume cover crop management. 

Objective 3: The team was able to leverage ongoing research for this objective. There are a number of ongoing experiments in participating states where cover crops are being evaluated for its impact on soil moisture, nutrient cycling, and soil microbiology. Depending on the location and the type of cover crop used, varying responses were found. For example, in an ongoing experiment at College Station, TX, winter cover crops were found to have a significant effect on soil moisture and nutrient turnover in the subsequent cash crop season. The team has several graduate students working on the projects related to Objective 3.  Team members are also actively seeking external grants to address goals related to Objective 3. An in-person field day was hosted by M. Fryer on infiltration measurement training and cover crop field day on April 25, 2021.

Objective 4: The first year of a national study to elucidate the effect of cover crop termination timing on pests, diseases, and corn performance is ongoing with 5 southern states participating. In summer 2020 multiplication of cowpea seeds of the germplasm lines US-1136, US-1137, and US-1138 was conducted in Florida to provide seeds for the multistate study in summer 2021. A preliminary trial was conducted in Florida in summer 2020 with the 3 germplasm lines to aid in designing the protocol for the multistate study. A preproposal was submitted to the Southern SARE Resesrach and Education Grants program in 2020 to fund the study but it was not invited for a full proposal. Despite this, interest is high, and the 2021 study will be conducted in 8 states and Puerto Rico. Seed multiplication will be repeated in summer 2021 to allow for a repeat of the study in summer 2022.  

Objective 5: We gave a presentation to the Cover Crop Council Managers titled, “Stakeholder-driven adaptive research: bringing farmers into the research team”, that introduced to them the breadth of stakeholder driven adaptive research methods our team utilizes. We presented about stakeholder-driven adaptive research focusing on research assessments at the 2021 Northeast Cover Crop Council Conference and will host sessions with other cover crop councils over the next two years. We will build upon our work in the PSA project (https://precisionsustainableag.org/) over the next two years with the following activities. We will recruit an advisory panel consisting of 5-8 members. The panel will identify research needs, next steps for stakeholder-driven research, barriers to cover crop adoption, and strategies to increase adoption of cover crops. We will conduct three small focus groups (4-5 people per group) to identify possible reasons why farmers reject using cover crops. Group 1 represents governmental organizations. Group 2 represents suppliers (cover crop seed producers, cover crop councils, equipment suppliers). Group 3 represents farmers (adopters, non-adopters, dis-adopters). We will analyze their feedback to develop questionnaire or interview instruments. We will facilitate farmer-to-farmer networking sessions to identify challenges amongst cover crop users and research needed to address those issues and develop solutions. Research and Extension faculty will be invited to these sessions to learn from the farmers and develop connections. We will promote on-farm research and seek to identify farmers who want to engage in on-farm research with research and extension faculty in their states.

Aryal, P. and C.A. Chase. 2021. Optimizing weed management with US-1136, US-1137, and US-1138 cowpea cover crop lines. Southern Weed Science Society Meeting (Poster).

Blount, A.R., M. Wallau, E. Rios, J.M.B. Vendramini, J.C.B. Dubeux, M.A. Babar, K.E. Kenworthy, M.J. Mulvaney, K.H. Quesenberry. 2020. 2020 Cool-Season Forage Variety Recommendations for Florida. UF/IFAS Electronic Delivery Information System (EDIS). University of Florida, Gainesville, FL. https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/AA/AA26600.pdf.

Dareus, R., J.P. Acharya, D.R. Paudel, C.H. Lopes De Souza, B. Tome Gouveia, C.A. Chase, P. DiGennaro, M.J. Mulvaney, R. Koenig, and E.F. Rios. 2021. Phenotypic diversity for phenological and agronomic traits in the UC-Riverside cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp) mini-core collection. Crop Science.  https://doi.org/10.1002/csc2.20544.

Dareus, R., A.C. Mota Porto, M. Bogale, P. DiGennaro, C.A. Chase, and E.F. Rios. 2021. Resistance to Meloidogyne enterolobii and Meloidogyne incognita in cultivated and wild cowpea. HortScience 56 (4):460-468. https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTSCI15564-20

Devkota, P., M.J. Mulvaney, D.L. Wright. 2021.Terminating Cover Crops Effectively for Weed Suppression. UF/IFAS Electronic Delivery Information System (EDIS). University of Florida, Gainesville, FL. https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/AG449

Li, J., X. Zhao, G. Maltais-Landry, and B.R. Paudel. 2021. Dynamics of soil nitrogen availability following sunn hemp residue incorporation in organic strawberry production systems. HortScience, 56(2), 138-146. https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTSCI15374-20