Cumulative impact of cover crops on soil carbon sequestration and profitability in a temperate humid climate.

Although soil C sequestration with cover crops (CCs) has been linked with the potential of CCs in climate change mitigation, the long-term usage of CCs on soil C storage and farm-based economics have been widely overlooked. Therefore, in a CC experiment established in 2007 in a temperate humid climate, four CCs and a no-CC control were compared to evaluate their potential to sequester C and provide economic returns. Total amount of plant C added to soil with CCs translated into greater soil organic carbon (SOC) content by 10-20 Mg C ha than the no-CC control across both sites.

Winter cover crops on processing tomato yield, quality, pest pressure, nitrogen availability, and profit margins.

Much of cover crop research to date focuses on key indicators of impact without considering the implications over multiple years, in the absence of a systems-based approach. To evaluate the effect of three years of autumn cover crops on subsequent processing tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) production in 2010 and 2011, a field split-split-plot factorial design trial with effects of cover crop type, urea ammonium nitrate fertilizer rate (0 or 140 kg N ha-1 preplant broadcast incorporated) and tomato cultivar (early vs.