Forage Crops Interseeded in Pumpkins

Pumpkins are grown on more than one-third of Indiana vegetable farms. There is increasing interest in producing grassfed livestock for local sales and integrating livestock into annual cropping systems. Cattle are known to eat unharvested pumpkins that remain in the field after harvest, and success in undersowing cover crops in pumpkins has been reported in the literature and by producers. This trial in northern Indiana evaluated the performance of different forage cover crops in a market pumpkin system. Results showed there is potential for interplanting forage crops or winter cover crops between pumpkin rows in July or August. When planted in July rapeseed produced the most biomass by mid-November, followed by turnips (tops and roots). July-planted winter barley and a nine-species mix produced similar biomass and would likely survive to provide forage in the spring. August plantings did not provide much biomass for fall forage, but the winter barley, winter rye, a seven-species mix, and rapeseed (if it survived winter) could provide living cover over the winter and possibly spring forage.