Cover crop planting practices determine their performance in the U.S. Corn Belt

Cover crop growing periods in the western U.S. Corn Belt could be extended by planting earlier. We evaluated both pre-harvest broadcast interseeding and post-harvest drilling of following cover crops: (a) cereal rye (Secale cereale L.) [RYE]; (b) a mix + legumes brassicas [MIX1], (c) oat [Avena sativa L.] (MIX2), (d) [LEGU]) (e) no control. These were tested continuous corn (Zea mays [corn–corn] soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.]–corn systems [soybean–corn] at three sites Nebraska for their effect on productivity, soil nutrients, subsequent performance. At with wet fall weather, broadcasting increased biomass 90%, to 1.29 Mg ha−1 RYE 0.87 MIX1 soybean–corn, 0.56 0.39 corn–corn, respectively. drier site, 95% 0.80 soybean–corn. Biomass N uptake was highest two soybean–corn (35 kg ha−1). sometimes mixes reduced N, but effects P, K, organic C inconsistent. In yields decreased 4% after RYE, crops. Site-specific selection crops practices can increase performance while minimizing impacts corn.