In a Nutshell
If cover crops can successfully be established when interseeded into corn in June, this may permit farmers to use existing equipment (rather than high-clearance machines or airplanes); may permit the use of more diverse cover crop species; and ultimately may increase the amount cover crop biomass produced. Jack Boyer interseeded a 4-species and 6-species cover crop mix into seed corn at the V4-V6 stage in randomized and replicated strips.
Key Findings
Both the 4-species and 6-species mixes survived below the seed corn canopy and produced similar amounts of aboveground biomass by mid-October. The interseeded cover crop mixes had no adverse effect on seed corn yield.