Barley and triticale underseeded with a kura clover living mulch: Effects on weed pressure, disease incidence, silage yield, and forage quality

Kosinski, S. M., King, J. R., Harker, K. N., Turkington, T. K. and Spaner, D. 2011. Barley and triticale underseeded with a kura clover living mulch: Effects on weed pressure, disease incidence, silage yield, and forage quality. Can. J. Plant Sci. 91: 677-687. Our objective was to evaluate the effects of seeding barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) and triticale (x Triticosecale wittmack) into a living mulch of kura clover (Trifolium ambiguum M. Bleb.) on weed pressure, barley leaf disease levels, silage yield, and forage quality. Field studies were conducted at two locations in the Parkland region of Alberta, Canada, in 2006 and 2007. Barley and triticale were seeded, at three different soil nitrogen levels, into an established living mulch of kura clover that was either unsuppressed or chemically suppressed with glyphosate at 0.41 kg a.i. ha(-1) prior to cereal seeding. Barley and triticale sole crops were also included for comparison. The presence of the suppressed and unsuppressed kura clover living mulches significantly decreased weed pressure in 2007 and barley leaf disease incidence in 2006 and 2007. Silage DM yield of the cereal sole crops ranged from 5.18 to 7.02 Mg ha(-1), compared with yields of 4.57 to 5.21 Mg ha(-1) from the unsuppressed living mulch treatments and from 3.95 to 6.00 Mg ha(-1) from the suppressed living mulch treatments. The kura clover increased the relative feed value of the silage. Based on these results, there is the potential for a suppressed kura clover living mulch to be utilized for cereal silage production in Alberta.