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| I think your proposed method seems like a lot of work compared to letting the rye head out and then crimping it before or after planting.
Your concern about moisture depletion by tall rye is a valid concern but not a major concern for me.
You visited the WIU Organic research farm in 2012 and observed that our no-till beans looked stunted compared to our conventional till beans that followed early terminated cover crops. That was the one time we have experienced significant yield loss due to moisture depletion since we started experimenting with organic no-till in 2009. Our no-till beans still averaged close to 40 bu/a in 2012 and there was very little weed seed production.
As you mentioned, during the last decade excessive moisture (May-July) has been a much more common occurrence than drought and the rolled rye system has performed well for us during very wet years such as 2015. I would think that a system that depends on multiple mowing passes could be compromised by multiple weeks of very wet weather.
Regarding allelopathy, IMHO weed suppression by rolled rye is as much a mulch effect as it is an allelopathy effect. Mowing rye may increase the production of allelopathic compounds by the injured plants but significantly reduce the mulching effect. The mulch effect is multidimensional (mulch = > darker, cooler, lower O2/higher CO2, low nitrate all of which suppress weed growth)
Regarding the negative effects of cereal rye on corn specifically, I don't think allelopathy is the main problem for 2 reasons:
lots of research shows that allelopathy suppresses small seeds much more than large seeds.
Some farmers routinely plant corn following rye and seem to manage the "effect" with planter applied N.
Joel
WIU Agriculture
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Agronomy Society sponsored webinar on organic no-till corn and soybeans
