Grazing Winter Rye Cover Crop in a Cotton No-Till System: Yield and Economics

Winter annual cover crop use is limited in conservation management systems in the United States. Grazing cover crops could encourage cover crop adoption if returns offset establishment costs without reducing crop yields. A 4-yr field experiment was conducted near Watkinsville, GA, in which a rye (Secale cereale L.) cover crop was grazed by cattle or roller-crimped before planting cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.). Cattle consumed about 2.4 Mg ha(-1) of forage annually but amounts were variable due to weather conditions. Rye residue remaining at cotton planting averaged 6.7 Mg ha(-1) for non-grazed compared with 1.7 Mg ha(-1) for grazed treatments. Cotton yields tended to be better in the non-grazed treatment but were significantly different only in 2009 when yields were reduced in the grazed treatment due to soil compaction. Four-year average lint yield was 120 kg ha(-1) greater for the non-grazed treatment. Cotton fiber quality parameters were generally better in the non-grazed treatment but not enough to change crop price. Differences between grazed and non-grazed returns ranged from $-26 to $355 and averaged $81 ha(-1) when based on market year prices. The difference in average return increased to $110 ha(-1) when based on 2012 market year prices. Although negative effects of soil compaction were observed the final year, returns from grazing have the potential to offset establishment costs of a rye cover crop and increase profits for cotton producers in the Southern Piedmont of the United States.