Precision planting of cereal rye cover crop improves sweet corn yield and farm benefits

Abstract Including cereal rye ( Secale cereale L.) in sweet corn ( Zea mays L.) production systems provides environmental and soil benefits. However, cereal rye often decreases sweet corn yield and thus farm profit. A novel approach to reduce this negative effect is precision planting of cereal rye, which skips the sweet corn row to minimize crop interactions, potentially increasing nitrogen (N) availability, and reducing negative effects of cereal rye on sweet corn. A four-site-yr trial was conducted during the 2022-2024 growing seasons, the first known evaluation of precision-planted cereal rye compared to a no-cover crop control and solid-planted cereal rye. The study evaluated (i) cereal rye morphology, biomass production and its quality, (ii) sweet corn plant population, morphology, and marketable yield, (iii) sweet corn quality traits, and (iv) soil nitrate-N (NO 3 -N) dynamics and leaching potential. Our results indicated that precision planting had similar morphology, biomass yield (2735 kg ha -1 for precision planting vs. 3011 kg ha -1 for solid planting), and C:N ratio (48.2 for precision planting vs. 53.4 for solid planting) to the solid planting of cereal rye. Sweet corn plant population was similar among all treatments. Sweet corn marketable yield was significantly higher in precision planting (16841 kg ha -1 ) compared to no-cover crop control (13914 kg ha -1 ), while solid planting (14721 kg ha -1 ) showed no significant difference from either of the two other treatments. Higher marketable yield was mainly due to moisture conservation by precision planting with limited impact on N immobilization during sweet corn growth. There were no differences among treatments for Brix %. Including both cereal rye treatments reduced N availability during and especially at the end of the season, minimizing NO 3 -N loss potential. We recommend growers utilize precision planting as a novel alternative to solid planting to ensure sweet corn production while minimizing the NO 3 -N loss potential.