In order to improve N best management practices in southwestern Ontario vegetable farming, the effect of cover crops on N dynamics in the fall and spring prior to sweet corn planting and during sweet corn season was assessed. The experiment was a split plot design in a fresh green pea - cover crop - sweet corn rotation that took place over 2 site-years at Bothwell and Ridgetown in 2006-2007 and 2007-2008, respectively. The main plot factor was fall cover crop type with five treatments including oat (Avena saliva L.), cereal rye (Secale cereal L.), oilseed radish (OSR; Raphanus sativus L. var. oleoferus Metzg Stokes), mixture OSR plus cereal rye (OSR&rye) and a no cover crop control. Compared with no cover crop, sweet corn profit margins were higher by $450 ha(-1) for oat at Bothwell and $1300 and $760 ha(-1) for OSR and OSR&rye, respectively, at Ridgetown. By comparing plant available N over the cover crop season, the cover crops tested were more effective at preventing N loss at Bothwell than at Ridgetown likely due to higher precipitation and sandier soil at Bothwell. Despite differences in site characteristics, cover crops did not result in increased plant available N compared with no-cover during the sweet corn season at either site, indicating that these cover crops will not provide an N credit to the following crop and growers should not modify N fertilizer applications based on cover crops.
