Abstract
Determination of cover crop termination rate has been based exclusively on visual evaluation of color by a trained evaluator to describe the life state of the plant. However, visual color-based assessment is a subjective method and can vary from one evaluator to another. If several skilled individuals are involved in the plant evaluation process in the same field, most likely a deviation associated with the cover crop evaluation will occur due to differences in eye response to colors. To remedy this problem, two experiments over three growing seasons were conducted in Alabama to evaluate cover crop termination rates using three different evaluation methods: (1) the visual method and manual data generation, (2) a chlorophyll meter with built-in data logger, and (3) an active light sensor (Greenseeker meter) with an iPAQ to store data. The instruments have the advantage of performing these evaluations quickly and effectively, and assessments can be performed by relatively unskilled personnel in the field. A linear correlation procedure was employed to develop relationships between observed termination rates and data collected with the instruments. The goal was to establish relationships between visual determination and instrument readouts, and to use these results for developing a procedure for future cover crop senescence assessment (termination rate in percentage of cover crop). Two cover crops were evaluated: cereal rye (Secale cereale L.) and crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum L.). Results from three years of data (2009-2011) from two sites showed that there were strong linear relationships between visual observation and data obtained from the instruments, with R2 values ranging from 0.713 to 0.945. Models were developed to predict termination rates for the two cover crops using the Greenseeker and chlorophyll meters, which are being used in agricultural research for different plant evaluation purposes.
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