Austrian winter peas, Pisum sativum, and wheat, Triticum aestivum, as winter cover crops, were evaluated in 1993 and 1994 at two sites on the Chillicothe Research Station in the northern Rolling Plains of Texas. Tests compared the cover crops as an alternative to maintaining bare soil during winter and spring months in annual cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) cv. CAB-CS production systems. Site 1 was located in an area with a history of an intermittent high water table, and site 2 was located in an area that historically is drought prone. Weight of residue and percent ground cover were adequate at both sites and in both years to meet SCS Conservation Compliance Plan requirements for highly erodible soils. Cover crops had no significant effect on early development of cotton plants in either year, but no significant wind or water damage occurred in either year. Mean lint yields were 576 and 425 lb of lint/acre from sites 1 and 2, respectively, in 1993. Respective yields were 368 and 238 lb from the two sites in 1994, in which precipitation amount and distribution were less favourable than in 1993. Yields among treatments were not significantly different except at site 2 in 1994 (the drought prone site). In this test, cotton lint yield following wheat was lowest, and yield following peas was lower than continuous cotton. Water use efficiency followed the same trend as yield at site 1, but differed slightly at site 2. Historical cotton yields from the Chillicothe Research Station are approximately 350 lb/acre.
