Establishment options vary depending on climate and crop system: Killing Medics are easy to control by light tillage or herbicides. The two legumes in the mix were crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum) and hairy vetch (Vicia villosa). The taller barley was more competitive, indicating that taller small grain cultivars should be used to favor grain production over medic stand development (289). However, in Michigan trials over several years, SANTIAGO (a burr medic with no spines on its burs) failed to establish satisfactorily when it was overseeded into corn and soybeans at layby. Use of medics for grain production in the upper Midwest has given inconsistent results. are legumes closely related to alfalfa. One Indiana test reported a yield of more than 9,000 lb. Southern Spotted Burr Medic Offers Reseeding Persistence. Annual medics need to fix as much N as winter peas or lentils and have a competitive establishment cost per acre to be as valuable as these better-known legume green manures (383). Application Rate: 8 lb/acre (undersow), broadcast at 25 lb/acre or drill at 20 lb/acre This mix contains broadleaf and grass species, providing diversity and a balanced diet for livestock. The burs are concentrated nutrition for winter forage, but lower the value of fleece when they become embedded in wool. Burr medic (also called burclover) cultivars are the best known of the annual medics. They are true annuals flowering, setting seed and dying within one growing season (60 to 100 days). These mixes can be used as a green manure incorporated into the soil or to provide winter erosion control. dry matter/A from a springs own barrel medic (164). Annual medics (Medicago spp.) They are generally adapted to dry conditions, prefer soil pH above six and lack the ability to overwinter in the northern region. fail due to droughty conditions (422) if there is at least 12 in. Annual vetches, clovers, and burr medic are included in the BIOS "Rich Mix" of cover crops. Regrowth comes from lateral stems, so don’t clip or graze lower than 4 or 5 inches if you want regrowth. In another Michigan comparison, winter canola (Brassica napus) yields were similar after a green manure comparison of two medics, berseem clover and NITRO annual alfalfa. Annual MOGUL produced the most biomass by fall, but also reduced barley yields. Berseem clover may be a better choice in many situations. Our expert sales team will work with you to create a custom cover crop mix that is just right for your field and your goals. Nitrogen production was 66 lb./A for MOGUL, 46 for SAVA and 22 for SANTIAGO. in the Northern Plains and in cover crop mixtures in the drier areas of California. Be sure to select a species to fit your weather and crop rotation. Otherwise, he no-tills winter wheat into standing medic so he can leave most of the medic in place, bury less seed and allow GEORGE to rest more securely in his field. Cash crops can be no-tilled into killed medic, or the legume can be incorporated. Burr medic harbors abundant lygus bugs in spring. To avoid bloat, manage as you would alfalfa (201). The 4-H Name and Emblem have special protections from Congress, protected by code 18 USC 707. semi-erect, late maturing, good cold tolerance, prostrate, mid-maturing, some cold tolerance, erect, early maturing, some cold tolerance, semi-prostrate, early maturing, unknown cold tolerance. Millet and tillage radish will provide early summer feed, while sorghum and rape will provide late summer and autumn feed. In this system, established self-reseeding black medic plowed down as green manure in alternate years improved spring wheat yield by about 50 percent compared to fallow (380). Cover Crop Mixes. Green plants, dry plants and burs of burr medic provide good forage, but solid stands can cause bloat in cattle (422). Further, the long-lived seed bank that black medic establishes may be undesirable for some cash crop rotations (383). As an interseeded crop: Medics can be grown as companion crops or interseeded with corn, sugarbeet and wheat. They germinate and grow quickly when soil moisture is adequate, forming a thick ground cover that holds soil in place. However, since our It depends on a farmer’s goals. The big advantage of spotted burr medic over crimson clover was its ability to reseed for several years from a single seed crop. A short period of moisture will allow medic to germinate and send down its fast-growing taproot, while sub-clover needs more consistent moisture for its shallower, slower growing roots (422). As a catch crop where the cover crop is planted before or after the vegetable crop growing sea-son to trap and hold nutrients, or to reduce soil erosion in fields. With certain types of cover crops, you can select a seed or seed mix whose primary purpose is to fix primarily the nitrogen and/or the potassium levels of your soil. Medics may persist after harvest, presenting an option for grazing. The above image shows black medic, a self-seeding legume, regenerating under a flax crop. He became certified organic in 1999. N/A, nearly as much as true clovers (294, 422). Good N on low moisture. Approximate seeds per pack: 500 Days till maturity: 90 Perennial Full & Partial Sun Container Friendly This has a full variety of plants to help replenish your garden! Significant annual types include: burr medic (M. polymorpha), which grows up to 14 inches tall, is semi-erect or prostrate, hairless, and offers great seed production and N-fixing ability; barrel medic (M. truncatula), about 16 inches tall, with many mid-season cultivars; and snail medic (M. scutellata), which is a good biomass and N producer. Established burr medic tolerates shade as a common volunteer in the understories of California walnut orchards, which are heavily shaded from April through November. Naturalized burr medic seed is traded locally in California. The legume germinated, but didn’t grow well or provide weed suppression until after corn dry-down in mid-September. The plants stayed green until the temperature dipped to the upper teens (201). Cool season legume cover crop. Now, we have a full suite of common seeds as well as specialty proprietary genetics to help you really dial in your cover crop offerings to build soil, retain moisture, and reduce weeds. Annual medics include 35 known species that vary widely in plant habit,maturity date and cold tolerance. Up to 90 percent has an outer shell that resists the softening by water and soil chemicals that triggers germination (286). Black medic has a high percentage of hard seed. In those situations, medics help reduce weed seed production for the long-term. University of Manitoba researchers are testing black medic for use as a late-season cover crop. Herbicides found compatible with annual medics include 2,4-DB, Eradicane, Buctril before medic emergence, Basagram and Pursuit on IR corn. As soil concerns vary from farm to farm, cover crops are selected and customised accordingly – often ticking more than one box. Jeffrey W. Dwyer, Director, MSU Extension, East Lansing, MI 48824. Growth was similar to the spring-planted plots by September 29 when frost hit. Seed of the different medic cultivars are normally mixed. of rain per year (292). A local accession collected in northern Mississippi exhibits better cold hardiness and insect resistance than commercially available (Australian) annual medics. Plant diversity is the key to reducing inputs and increasing profits. Using hot weather cover crops is very similar to using cool weather cover crops. Although annual medics are relatively new in North America, they are an essential component of Australian sheep pastures and small grain cropping systems. However, beyond seed selection, cover crops are cover crops. No one ought to try to grow mustard as a cover crop in 100ºF weather! Their status as a resilient, reseeding forage makes medics the basis for the “ley system” developed in dry areas of Australia. When moisture is abundant, medics can reach their full potential of 3 T/A of 3.5 to 4 percent plant-tissue nitrogen, contributing more than 200 lb. Interseeded medics may compete with both weeds and crop plants for moisture and nutrients and may reduce yields, which is why it is best to seed them three to four weeks after planting the primary crop. However, without the livestock grazing benefit to supply additional utilization, water-efficient legumes such as lentils and Austrian winter peas will probably be more effective N sources. Black medic produces abundant seed. A cover crop’s definition is broad. About 45 days after mid-April planting in southern Illinois, two annual medics were 20 inches tall and blooming. He initially seeded the medic on 10- inch row spacings with barley at 10 lb./A, his standard rate and seeding method. Once as widely grown as hairy vetch in the mid-South region of the U.S., burr medic persists in non-cropland areas because it is well adapted to the region (326, 327). These traits are valuable in long rotations of forages and cash crops as well as in mixtures for cover cropping (Sanders et al., 2011). Spring -planted annual medics produced dry matter yields similar to or greater than alfalfa by July (373, 376). Annual medics include 35 known species that vary widely in plant habit, maturity date and cold tolerance. GAMMA medic (M. rugosa) had the highest first-year seed production but re-established poorly, apparently due to a low hard seed content. Snail medic produced about the same biomass and N as red clover when both legumes were spring sown with an oats nurse crop into a disked seedbed in Wisconsin. N/A. They grow quickly in response to fall California rains and fix from 55 to 90 lb. All the medics re-established better under permanent pasture than under any rotational system involving tillage (94, 422). Soil should be well-drained, as medics are susceptible to diseases like rhizoctonia, phytophthora and fusarium under water-logged conditions. USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. With timely moisture, you can get a hay cutting within nine to 10 weeks after germination, and some species will keep working to produce a second cutting. Medics may survive where true clovers (Trifolium spp.) Field Management Black medic>small grain rotations developed in Montana count on successful self-reseeding of medic stands for grazing by sheep or cattle. By allowing the cover crop to grow until 40 to 50 days after first bloom and managing the cropping system without tillage that would bury burclover seeds too deeply, Southern spotted burclover should successfully reseed for several years. txtcvr Up to 96 percent of it is hard seed, much of it so hard seeded that it won’t germinate for two years. Reseeding. Livestock graze the legume in the “medic years” when the cover crop accumulates biomass and contributes N to the soil. N/A in the Midwest under favorable conditions, but have the potential for 200 lb. Cover crops can: suppress weeds without the use of herbicide, protect valuable topsoil from wind and water erosion, reduce compaction caused by frequent mowing, increase organic matter, earthworms and beneficial micro-organisms, increase the soil's available nitrogen and moisture retention, So which ones are for you? Southern spotted burr medic is a native M. polymorpha cultivar with more winterhardiness than most of the current burr medics, which are imported from Australia. USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. Black medic (M. lupulina) is usually called a perennial. Producers in Europe, North Dakota, and Canada have already experimented with black medic as a cover crop. While some of the naturalized strains have been self-reseeding for 30 years in some orchards, Extension specialists say the commercial cultivars may be preferable because they are widely available and better documented. This mix improves soil health through addition of organic matter, soil aeration, and nitrogen fixation. Issued in furtherance of MSU Extension work, acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Versatile for any garden, and attractant to pollinators as well. Cover crop seed mix has huge potential to improve your farm’s long term productivity and profitability. Recent studies on cover crop effectiveness—including both field measurement and longterm, larger-scale simulations—are summarized below. In California orchards and vineyards where winters are rainy instead of frigid, medics mixed with other grasses and legumes provide a continuous cover that crowds out weeds. Harvesting the medics at 60 days as forage did not significantly lessen their green manure value (373). Table 1 shows the growth characteristics, use and seeding rates of some annual medics that have been tested. Fight weeds. Three cover crop categories exist: Grasses like cereal rye and Sudan grass; brassicas like turnips, radishes, and rapeseed; and legumes like hairy vetch and clover. Cover crops act as a barrier for the soil, shielding it from rain runoff and wind and improving the overall soil structure. MOGUL barrel medic grew the most biomass in a barley intercrop, compared with SANTIAGO burr medic and GEORGE black medic in a four-site Minnesota trial. Tolerate regular mowing. “The yield drop with medic was mostly a weed problem with Persian darnel,” Alger explains, “but I now have that mostly under control.”. Great N from more water. Winter-annual clovers and medics are key ingredients in … In the arid Northern Plains, fall germination and winter survival are dependable, although spring planting also has worked. Good stands of medics in well drained soil can contribute sufficient residue to build soil organic matter levels. Rolling is recommended before or after seeding to improve seed-soil contact and moisture in the seed zone. Under normal dryland conditions, medics usually produce about 1 T dry matter/A, depending on available soil moisture and fertility. Most upright varieties resemble alfalfa in their seeding year with a single stalk and short taproot.Medics can produce more than 100 Naturalized and imported burr medic proved the best type of burclover for self-reseeding cover crops in several years of trials run from northern California into Mexico in the 1990s. See also Self-Seeding Cover Crops for Late Seas… N/A where the plants grow over winter. Low, dense vegetation breaks raindrop impact while roots may penetrate 5 feet deep to hold soil in place. N/A when interplanted with standard and semi-dwarf barley in a Minnesota trial. Whether you are farming conventionally, organically, or aiming for a no-till system, soils should have a living crop growing on each field for as many months of the year as possible. Organic farmers, in particularly in dry areas, have used black medic successfully as a self-regenerating legume during the summerfallow year. It can improve soil, reduce diseases, save moisture and boost grain protein when grown in rotations with grains in the Northern Plains. Our SmartMix calculator creates a custom cover crop mix that’s just right for your field. Black medic increased spring wheat yield by about 92 percent compared with spring wheat following fallow, and also appreciably raised the grain protein level (379). Snail medic (M. scutellata) is a prolific seed producer. One Michigan farmer’s situation is fairly typical. Most stands are volunteer and can be encouraged by proper grazing, cultivation or fertilization. The Cover Crop Chart is produced and distributed by the staff of the Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory at Mandan, ND. That’s GEORGE black medic. The seeding rate for SAVA medic is 29 lb./A, more than twice the 13 lb./A recommended for clear seedings of MOGUL and SANTIAGO (373, 376). Annual medics can achieve their full potential when planted after a short-season spring crop such as processing peas or lettuce. 3. This use requires livestock for maximum economic benefit. GEORGE grows in a prostrate to ascending fashion and overwinters well with snow cover in the Northern Plains. If weed pressure is high, medic fields are grazed closely to prevent weeds from going to seed, then plowed. SARE Outreach operates under cooperative agreements with the University of Maryland to develop and disseminate information about sustainable agriculture. It frequently reduced barley yields, particularly those of a semi-dwarf barley variety, but increased weed suppression and N and biomass production (289). Fallow is the intentional resting of soil for a season so it will build up moisture and gain fertility by biological breakdown of organic matter. Yields averaged over one wet year and one dry year were about 1T dry matter and 60 lb. Also called: black medic, burr (or bur) medic, burclover Type: Winter annual or summer annual legume Roles: N source, soil quality builder, weed suppressor, erosion fighter Mix with: Other medics; clovers and grasses; small grains See charts, p. 66 to 72, for ranking and management summary. They serve well in seasonally dry areas from mild California to the harsh Northern Plains. This cover crop mixture is a high attraction option to plant after corn or soybeans. There are at least 10 cultivars of barrel medic. Cash crops can be no-tilled into killed medic, or the legume can be incorporated. Green manures provide living mulch that protects soils from winter erosion. Early planting in this window with a late frost could give both forage and N-bearing residue, protecting soil and adding spring fertility. Most cover crop blends contain a mix of N-fixers and non-N-fixers. As the flax continues to grow, black medic forms a low-growing living mulch under the crop canopy. They reseed up to three times per summer, dying back naturally each time. Burr and barrel medics are not as effective as subclover at absorbing phosphorus (422). It is susceptible to pea aphid. Most upright varieties resemble alfalfa in their seeding year with a single stalk and short taproot. Black medic and two annual medics produced 50 to 150 lb. He established annual medic at 10 lb./A when his ridge-tilled corn was about knee high. The medic put on about 10 inches of growth before winterkilling, enough for effective winter erosion protection (201). The more prostrate species of annual medic provide better ground cover. It uses less water in the 2- to 4-foot depth than sweetclover, soybeans or hairy vetch seeded at the same time. The medic came on strong. With easy-to-use educational resources, we help you identify the strengths and weaknesses of your selections and craft a mix that will serve you well. An example would be white mustard with its high amounts of glucosinolate, which can be toxic and help control the populations of damaging nematodes. Select cover crop species or mix to meet the goals and requirements from steps 1 and 2 Examples – Field Activity Tour various cover crops, identify components (nutrient fixing plants, scaffold plants, carbon source plants) and dig holes to expose soil profile. See Southern Burr Medic Offers Reseeding Persistence. Selected cultivars include SERENA (an early bloomer), and CIRCLE VALLEY, both of which have fair tolerance to Egyptian alfalfa weevil (435). Those are high yields for Alger’s area, partly due to timely summer rain. In the upper Midwest, snail and burr medics achieve peak biomass about 60 days after planting. April soil N value after black medic in one Montana test was 117 lb./A, about 2.5 times the fallow N level and the best of six cultivars tested, all of which used less water than the fallow treatment (378). This information is for educational purposes only. Cover crop mix has legumes, hardy grains, radish, mustards – to help heal your garden from all the growing you are doing! Studies on cover crops are numerous and wide-ranging. Establishment: Most medics are very small-seeded and require shallow planting (about one quarter-inch deep). He is experimenting successfully with rye instead of summer fallow. For a ley pasture in crop-pasture rotation, the emphasis is on snail medics with only a small amount of barrel medic, with a mixture of the early-, mid-, and late-season flowering cultivars to take advantage of different length of seasons. You will, of course, use different varieties for best results. The burr medic flowered over a longer period than crimson, matured seed slightly sooner than TIBBEE but generally did not produce as much biomass. Dates of first flowering for barrel medics range from 80 to 105 days after germination, and seed count per pound ranges from 110,000 for HANAFORD to 260,000 for SEPHI (422). Blogger and seed manager Jenna Langley Blue dives into cover crop varieties and how they relate to soil health . These insects are easily controlled with pyrethroid insecticides when weevils are in their second instar growth stage. It also appears to be particularly prone to outbreaks of the two-spotted spider mite, a pest found in many West Coast orchards (422). Photo by Robert L. Bugg. sary to implement an aggressive cover crop growing near a shallow rooted vegetable crop. serious pest of bur medic. Black medic is a dual-use legume in this adapted “ley” system. It is well suited to cold winter areas of Hardiness Zone 4, where it can stay green much of the winter (6). Michigan State University Extension programs and materials are open to all without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, gender identity, religion, age, height, weight, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, marital status, family status or veteran status. 48 MICHIGAN FIELD CROP ECOLOGY - COVER CROPS Timing is very important to successfully establishing a cover crop by overseeding. Reference to commercial products or trade names does not imply endorsement by MSU Extension or bias against those not mentioned. N/A (201, 422). Grows well in dryland, alkaline (6.8-9.0 pH) soils, and is often used for over-seeding into existing pasture grass, or cover cropping in orchards, vineyards, or grains. site, medics have been difficult to establish by over-seeding at vegetable planting or at final cultivation of sweet corn. To reduce economic risk in fields where you’ve never grown medic, sow a mixture of medics with variable seed size and maturation dates. Medics grow well in mixtures with grasses and clovers, but don’t perform well with red clover (422, 263). GEORGE was the least competitive and fixed 55 to 120 lb. Medics in the vegetative stage do not tolerate field traffic. Burr medic seed in the intact bur remains viable for a longer time than hulled seed (120). Boost organic matter. In a series of trials in Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, medic sometimes reduced corn yield and did not provide enough weed control or N to justify its use under current cash grain prices, even when premiums for pesticide- free corn were evaluated (141, 219, 373, 374, 376, 456, 457). Black medic can germinate within three days of planting (286). Reduce soil erosion. Seeding as hay or forage crop: Annual medics can be 'clear-seeded' in early spring as a hay or forage crop with a small-grain drill. Medics can establish and survive better than subterranean clover in times of low rainfall, and are more competitive with grasses. Early burr medics flower in about 62 days in California, ranging up to 96 days for mid-season cultivars (422). He had several inches of growth when frost hit about June 10 and killed the tender grass. Provide good grazing. This makes medics ideal for long rotations of forages and cash crops in the Northern Plains and in cover crop mixtures in the drier areas of California. We’ve been providing cover crop seed to distributors for nearly 50 years. In a replicated cold-hardiness trial spanning several states, spotted burr medic flowered in mid-March, about two weeks after SERENA, CIRCLE VALLEY or SANTIAGO burclover, but two weeks before TIBBEE crimson clover. Quick spring regrowth suppresses early weeds. In year 3, he sprayed it with glyphosate in order to establish a sorghum sudangrass hybrid as emergency forage on May 15. It is extremely impor-tant to seed when there is enough light to germinate and establish the cover crop, yet late enough so it will not compete with the corn crop for water, nutrients or light. Easy-to-manage cover crop. Southern spotted burr medic (Medicago arabica) shows promise as a winter legume that can reseed for several years from a single seed crop in Hardiness Zone 7 of the Southeast. Second-year growth may be modest, but coverage improves in years three and four after the initial seeding if competition is not excessive (422) and grazing management is timely. They not only help control erosion; they also provide key nutrients. Otherwise known as “green manure”, cover crops are plants that are selected to provide some kind of enrichment or protection to the soil. Medics can produce more than 100 lb. Widely acclimated. Reduced Soil Erosion. He let it mature to its full 12 inches to harvest it for seed. Local environmental variations, such as sandy or clay soils with differing soil nutrient availability or drain-CHapter 2 Cover Crop Species and Descriptions Chuck A. Ingels, Robert L. Bugg, and Fred L. Thomas Monocultures versus Mixes, 8 Winter annual Cover Crops for Tilled Vineyards, 13 Legumes, 13 grasses, 16 forbs, 17 Fall weeds are controlled by medic regrowth after harvest, whether the medic stand is overseeded or interplanted with the grain, or the grain is seeded into an established medic stand. In North Dakota, however, unrestricted medic growth depressed yield of a following wheat crop (73). Jess continues to fine-tune his system to maximize income and weed management. There are more than 35 known species of annual medics, all of which have their origins in the Mediterranean region. Medics are widely adapted to soils that are reasonably fertile, but not distinctly acid or alkaline. Seeding rate is 8 to 10 lb./A for black medic, 12 to 20 lb./A for larger-seeded (snail, gamma and burr) annual medics. Livestock graze the legume in the “medic years” when the cover crop accumulates biomass and contributes N to the soil. 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