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Accepted manuscript

Impact of Cover Crop Mixture and Cereal Rye on Soybean Critical Period for Weed Control in a Low-Yield Environment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 February 2026

Annu Kumari Open the ORCID record for Annu Kumari [Opens in a new window] ,
Andrew J. Price Open the ORCID record for Andrew J. Price [Opens in a new window] ,
Jagdeep Singh ,
Kipling Balkcom  and
David Russell Open the ORCID record for David Russell [Opens in a new window]
Annu Kumari*
Affiliation:
Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Crop, Soil & Environmental Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA, 36849
Andrew J. Price
Affiliation:
Plant Physiologist, USDA-ARS, National Soil Dynamics Laboratory, Auburn, AL, USA, 36832
Jagdeep Singh
Affiliation:
Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Crop, Soil & Environmental Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA, 36849 Agronomy Advisor, University of California, Cooperative Extension, Yreka, CA 96097, USA
Kipling Balkcom
Affiliation:
USDA-ARS, National Soil Dynamics Laboratory, Auburn, AL, USA, 36832
David Russell
Affiliation:
Assistant Professor, Department of Crop, Soil & Environmental Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA, 36849
*
Author for correspondence: Annu Kumari, Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Crop, Soil & Environmental Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849 (azk0132@auburn.edu)
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Abstract

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Cover crops have been progressively adopted by growers as a sustainable approach to control problematic and herbicide-resistant weeds. Understanding the critical period of crop-weed competition is essential for timely and effective weed management tactics in cropping systems. The two-year field experiment was conducted in Alabama to evaluate the effect of a cover crop mixture that included cereal rye, crimson clover, and hairy vetch, and solo cereal rye on the critical period for weed control (CPWC) in soybean. The experiment was implemented in a split-plot design in which the main plots were cover crop mixture, cereal rye, and winter fallow, and subplots were five durations of weed-free and weed-interference plots. The presence of a cover crop mixture and cereal rye delayed the critical timing for weed removal (CTWR) by approximately 2 wk compared with winter fallow. The results in 2019 showed the predicted duration of CPWC following cover crop mixture, cereal rye, and winter fallow was 4.8 wk, 0 wk, and 5.1 wk, respectively. Furthermore, in 2020, the estimated CPWC duration following cover crop mixture, cereal rye, and winter fallow was 1.4 wk, 0.1 wk, and 2.6 wk, respectively. In both years, single-species cereal rye resulted in the shortest CPWC due to its early-season weed suppression, while winter fallow resulted in the longest CPWC duration. In conclusion, a shorter duration of CPWC with the incorporation of cover crops could help soybean growers enhance their weed control and provide greater yield protection to soybeans.

Keywords

Cover crop mixturecereal ryecritical period for weed controlsoybean yield

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Weed Technology , Accepted manuscript , pp. 1 - 25
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2026. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Weed Science Society of America