Kura Clover Living Mulch for Furrow‐Irrigated Corn in the Intermountain West

Abstract

Kura clover (Trifolium ambiguum M. Bieb.) living mulches have been used successfully to produce corn (Zea mays L.) in the upper Midwest. A study was conducted at Fruita, CO (39.1500° N, 108.7167° W), to evaluate corn production in a kura clover living mulch system under furrow irrigation. Living mulch treatments were: (i) no‐till, (ii) no‐till with a pre‐plant herbicide application, and (iii) strip‐tillage. Nitrogen fertilization rates of 0, 84, and 168 kg N ha−1 were applied to living mulch plots and 0, 168, and 336 kg N ha−1 were applied to conventional corn plots. Grain yield was responsive to N rate with highest yields in kura clover living mulch plots occurring at 168 kg N ha−1 (10.1 and 10.8 Mg ha−1 in 2007 and 2008, respectively). The strip‐till treatment performed best in 2007, yielding 11.7 Mg ha−1 at 168 kg N ha−1, but did not differ from the no‐till with pre‐plant herbicide in 2008. Averaged across tillage treatments, kura clover biomass was highest (991 kg ha−1) when no N was applied and the difference in kura clover biomass was not significant between the 84 and 168 kg ha−1 N rates. There was no difference in kura clover production among suppression treatments (averaging 726 kg ha−1). Strip‐tillage at a 168 kg N ha−1 rate is a promising option for producing grain corn in a kura clover living mulch cropping system under furrow irrigation in the Intermountain West.