Comparison of Organic and Conventional Crops at the Neely- Kinyon Long-term Agroecological

Materials and Methods The Neely-Kinyon LTAR site was established in 1998 to study the long-term effects of organic production in Iowa. Treatments at the LTAR site, replicated four times in a completely randomized design, include the following rotations: conventional CornSoybean (C-S), organic Corn-SoybeanOats/Alfalfa (C-S-O/A), organic CornSoybean-Oats/Alfalfa-Alfalfa (C-S-O/A-A) and organic Corn-Soybean-Corn-Oats/Alfalfa (C-SB-C-O/A). Oat/alfalfa plots were field cultivated on April 11, 2015, and ‘Badger’ oats were underseeded with ‘BlueJay 3HR’ alfalfa at a rate of 90 lbs/acre and 15 lb/acre, respectively. Plots were cultipacked on April 11 after planting. Following harvest of the organic corn plots in 2014, winter rye was notill drilled at a rate of 75 lb/acre on November 7, 2014.