Cover crops provide a wide range of benefits to farms and the environment, but this is not reflected in current adoption rates of cover cropping. If cover crops are grown for forage they may raise more interest among farmers whether as feed or as income. The objective of this study was to evaluate if introducing annual winter cover crops will contribute to the yield and quality of annual forage production and will affect soil water content. The experiment included common vetch (Vicia sativa L.), triticale (x Triticosecale Wittm. ex A. Camus) and their mixture as winter forage cover crops, fallow with nitrogen fertilization, and control plot (fallow without fertilization). The main crop was silage corn. A 2-year study was performed at three locations in northern Serbia. The following indices were calculated: forage productivity index (FP) as a ratio between cover crop and silage corn dry matter yield, forage cover crop yield advantage index (FCCYa) as a ratio between total forage yield on cover crop or fertilization treatment and control plot, and forage cover crop protein advantage index (FCCPa) as a ratio between total protein yield on cover crop or fertilization treatment and control plot. The total forage yield in 2012/2013 was higher due to more favorable weather conditions. FP was the highest on treatment with triticale in the first year and on the mixture in the second year. FCCYa was above 1, and higher on cover crop treatments in two locations. Introducing forage cover crops in crop rotation with silage corn showed an advantage in protein yield with all cover crop species, resulting in FCCPa above 1. Forage production at a location with lower FCCYa should be more focused on yield-quality balance. In contrast, in a temperate region in some years annual winter cover crops have a potential negative impact on available soil water storage for cash crop production compared to fallow-corn systems. Results indicate that cover crops impact the annual total forage yield and soil water content, but this alternation is not a species-specific effect. In the region with recurrent drought, forage yield uncertainty may be lessened by winter cover crops which enable reduced dependence on the main forage crop production.

覆盖作物为农场和环境提供了广泛的好处，但这并没有反映在目前的覆盖作物采用率中。如果种植覆盖作物作为饲料，它们可能会引起农民的更多兴趣，无论是作为饲料还是作为收入。本研究的目的是评估引入一年生冬季覆盖作物是否有助于提高年度牧草产量和质量，并影响土壤含水量。实验包括普通野豌豆 ( Vicia sativa L.)、黑小麦 (x Triticosecale威特姆。ex A. Camus）及其混合物作为冬季牧草覆盖作物、施氮肥的休耕地和对照地块（不施肥的休耕地）。主要作物是青贮玉米。在塞尔维亚北部的三个地点进行了一项为期 2 年的研究。计算了以下指标：作为覆盖作物和青贮玉米干物质产量之比的牧草生产力指数 (FP)，作为覆盖作物或施肥处理的总牧草产量与对照小区之间的比率的牧草覆盖作物产量优势指数 (FCCYa)和牧草覆盖作物蛋白质优势指数 (FCCPa) 作为覆盖作物或施肥处理与对照小区的总蛋白质产量之间的比率。由于更有利的天气条件，2012/2013 年的总草料产量更高。第一年用小黑麦处理的 FP 最高，第二年用混合小麦处理。FCCYa 高于 1，并且在两个地点的覆盖作物处理中更高。在与青贮玉米轮作中引入牧草覆盖作物在蛋白质产量上显示出所有覆盖作物物种的优势，导致 FCCPa 高于 1。在 FCCYa 较低的地区，牧草生产应更加注重产量 - 质量平衡。相比之下，在某些年份的温带地区，与休耕玉米系统相比，每年冬季覆盖作物对经济作物生产的可用土壤储水量有潜在的负面影响。结果表明，覆盖作物影响年度总草料产量和土壤含水量，但这种变化不是物种特异性的影响。在反复干旱的地区，