In the fall, five cover crop mixtures and one unplanted check will be established soon after com harvest to allow for adequate fall growth. Cover crop mixtures will be as follows 1. Unplanted treatment (weeds controlled in the fallow period)
2. Cereal rye
3. Tillage radish
4. Cereal rye+ tillage radish
5. Cereal rye + tillage radish + winter pea
6. Cereal rye + oat + tillage radish+ turnip+ winter pea+ sorghum+ crimson clover
Seeding rates of individual species will be reduced/adjusted as the number of species in the mixture increases to avoid extremely high plant populations and account for producer inputs. Experiments will be arranged in a randomized complete block design with 4 replications and planted at the KSU East Central Experiment Field in Ottawa and at the KSU Agronomy Ashland Bottoms in Manhattan. Locations are selected where soybean/com rotations and no-till practices are more prevalent. Fertility and pest control will be managed according to KSU
recommendations. Cover crops will be terminated in late April or early May with glyphosate at the onset of head emergence of the cereal rye. Soybean will be no-tilled into the standing residue in late May to early June. In the spring, soil samples will be taken for evaluation of nutrients, organic matter, and biological soil analysis (PLF A, Solvita, etc.). Soybean plots will be harvested and plot weights, moisture, and test weights will be determined. Data will be analyzed using ANOVA.

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A research study was established in 2011 in a soybean and corn rotation with cover crops planted soon after each crop harvest in the fall. A variety of complex cover crop mixtures were evaluated ranging from single specie to 7 specie mixtures. Cover crops were terminated in the spring soon after anthesis of the cool season cereal in the cover crop. Soybean yield responded differently among the four years of the study. In an extreme drought year of 2012 the unplanted check yielded 29.4 bu/a. Soybean yield was significantly reduced by 4.2 and 3.4 bu/a in treatments with wheat or turnip cover crop, respectively. In 2014, the unplanted check yielded 33.9 bu/a and cover crop treatments rye, rye + radish, and >6-species mix had significantly greater soybean yield at 3.7, 3.4, and 3.3 bu/a, respectively. In 2015, only the rye cover crop treatment significantly reduced soybean yield compared to the unplanted check at a 4.2 bu/a yield loss. No significant yield differences were observed in any cover crop treatment in 2016.