Karen Beaubien, Chase Krug, Sydney Schiffner
Companion Cropping
Silflower is a perennial that provides continuous living cover for many years, in the first year it is a much smaller plant that does not produce seed. Weed pressure in that first year is a challenge to stand establishment. Additionally, a year with no harvest is a challenge to commercialization.
We are testing agronomic systems that use Winter Barley as a companion crop to Silflower for that first year.
The picture to the right has a plot of Winter Barley on the left, and Winter Barley/Silflower companion in the middle, and Silflower alone to the left.
