1. Can a Winter Rye Cover Crop Mitigate Nitrate Leaching from Corn Production on Irrigated Coarse Textured Soils?

Minnesota has approximately 500,000 acres of irrigated coarse textured soils. These soils are very productive but are highly vulnerable to nitrate (NO --N) leaching and ground water contamination. In these soils, most of the NO --N leaching losses take place in early spring and late fall, when precipitation is high and crops have limited water and nutrient uptake. The objectives of this study are 1) quantify the capacity of rye (Secale cereal L.) as a cover crop to mitigate... N. Ricks, F. Fernandez, J. Baker