NDSU graduate student Sam Bibby took third place with his presentation at the 37th Plant Science Graduate Student Symposium held virtually March 4-5. The symposium was hosted by the University of Manitoba.

Bibby presented “Corn-alfalfa intercropping with different row spacings” in the Agronomy and Cropping Systems category.

He studied a cropping system in which alfalfa is established while corn is grown for grain production. “The goal with this practice is to increase the revenue of the grower during alfalfa establishment by harvesting corn rather than a low-yielding alfalfa crop typical of seeding year alfalfa,” Bibby said.

Corn row spacings of 30 inches and 60 inches were tested. He found that the presence of alfalfa did not have a significant effect on corn yield but 60-inch row spacing reduced corn yield by 17 percent to 23 percent. In the second year, on average, alfalfa established under the 30-inch corn yielded less than alfalfa established alone.

Bibby, who is from Ettrick, Wisconsin, is pursuing his master’s degree in plant sciences and also is a research specialist in the forages and biomass production project. He is advised by Marisol Berti, professor and leader of the forages and biomass production project.

The symposium is an annual event that brings together graduate students from the University of Manitoba, the University of Saskatchewan and NDSU to network and share research with their peers, professors and speakers. The participating universities take turns hosting the symposium.

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