3rd Year Report of Evaluating the Placement of Companion Crops in Forage Seed Production
Project Objectives: SFSDC wanted to determine if there are any residual effects of planting meadow bromegrass in alternate rows with wheat on seed yield of the forage in the second year of seed production.
Methodology: On May 28, 2014, using a double shoot ConservaPak airseeder with 9 inch row spacing, we planted each of two forage seed crops, meadow bromegrass and perennial ryegrass as follows: i) without a companion crop in 9" rows; ii) without a companion crop in 18" rows; iii) in the same rows with Unity VB wheat as the companion crop; iv) with wheat in alternating rows. We also planted v) wheat in 9" rows and vi) wheat in 18" rows. By placing forage seed with the seed opener and wheat through the fertilizer opener, we attempted to achieve optimum seed depths for both crops.