The use of a model linking climate to the effect of a rye mulch on soybean growth would be very useful in determining optimum management of the cover crop for various weather scenarios. Therefore, the main research objectives of this project were: 1) to study the timing of rye killing in a rye/soybean system, where the rye is planted in the fall, chemically killed and mowed in the spring, and soybeans are no-tilled through the rye mulch, 2) to investigate the effect of a rye mulch on soybean growth and yield, 3) to measure the effect of rye mulch on soil water and soil temperature, 4) to model the effect of a rye mulch on soybean growth under various weather scenarios.