**4. Conclusions**

This work presents findings for a vegetable no-till system using cover crops under weather and soil conditions of Alabama and provides guidance for adoption of similar conservation systems in the Southeast. Across three growing seasons, cover crop termination rates by roller/crimper alone were consistently as good as rolling/crimping with supplemental application of organic herbicide Weed ZAP. Termination results indicate that Weed ZAP was ine ffective in speeding up the termination process, therefore extra costs incurred for purchasing this organic product and cost of application was added to overall cost of termination without tangible results, therefore is not recommended for cover crop termination. Volumetric soil moisture content for rolled/crimped cover crops was consistently higher compared to the conventional system, indicating that flattened and desiccated cover crop residue provided water conservation. In contrast, in the conventional system, soil was exposed without coverage resulting in lower volumetric soil moisture content. Since this field experiment was focused on a no-till organic system using cover crops, non-tillage operation for plots with planted cover crops, there were many problems encountered in the first year of experiment (2009 growing season). In 2010 and 2011, yields for cantaloupe, okra, and watermelons were consistently higher for the conventional system compared with the no-till system with cover crops. Previous research indicates that yields in no-till systems using cover crops tend to be lower in the first growing season compared to conventional systems [4]. One reason for reduced cash crop yields may be related to lower N availability to cash crops due to N demands by microbes during decomposition of cover crop residue. Also, increased weed population (due to cultivation limitations) and increased insect populations (due to residual habitat) may have hindered yield potential in the no-till system. This study was conducted on-farm under realistic farm conditions and the results indicate that major fluctuations in yield of cash crops were the result of inadequate weed and insect control from use of less e ffective organic products than synthetic pesticides. Future studies need to be focused on weed control by generating optimum cover crop residues covering soil surface providing an e ffective mulch barrier to prevent weed emergence as well as an integrated pest managemen<sup>t</sup> plan to decrease yield impact of pest insects in these systems. **Author Contributions:** T.S.K. and A.J.P. collaborated on experimental conceptualization, experimental investigation, contributing to resources, statistical analysis, and writing—original draft preparation.

**Funding:** This Conservation Innovation Grant (CIG) on-farm project was conducted with a financial support from the USDA-NRCS, Auburn University and USDA-Agricultural Research Service (ARS), National Soil Dynamics Lab.

**Acknowledgments:** The authors wish to acknowledge Corey Kichler, agricultural engineer, Trent Morton, biological technician and Kirk Iversen, project administrator for their personal involvement in cover crop termination, treatments application, planting, harvesting of cash crops, and for creative ideas such as insect control and maintaining constant communication with the producer Frank Randle.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.
