Spring cereals are integral to diverse rotations; however, it is often hard to get them planted early enough. One strategy to get into the field early is to no-till plant into cover crop residue, which provides soil cover in the winter and generally helps improve soil health. To investigate this approach, Ken no-till planted oats and barley into replicated plots of four different cover crops and plots that received fall tillage. 

Key Findings

• Grain yield and relative net return were highest when no-till planted into daikon radish.
• Weed control was best with daikon radish and the fall tillage control.
• There was no soil erosion in the cover crop plots, and moderate rill erosion in the fall tillage plots.