Cover Crop
Benefits
Crop
Yields Soil
Quality Beneficial
Insects Diseases
and Nematodes Weeds Nutrient
Availability Soil
Compaction Soil
Moisture Erosion Runoff Organic
Matter Infiltration
Cover Crops and Weeds
While the cover crop is growing, it will suppress the germination and growth of fall and early spring weeds through competition and shading. When killed and left on the surface as a mulch, cover crops continue to suppress weeds, primarily by blocking out light.
Cover crops can also suppress weeds chemically. Some plants release chemicals, either
while they are growing or while they are decomposing, which prevent the
germination or growth of other plants (allelopathy).
Researchers have effectively used cover crops of wheat, barley, oats, rye, sorghum, and sudangrass to suppress weeds.
Weed suppression has also been reported from residues and leachates of crimson clover, hairy vetch, and other legumes. (From Summer
Cover Crops, N. G. Creamer and K. R. Baldwin, North Carolina State
University).
For more information, see the Contribution of Cover Crop Mulches to Weed Management.
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