Mechanical kill of the cover crop was done using an undercutter that was developed in the Agricultural Engineering Department at OSU. The design of the mechanical undercutter is simple. The mechanical undercutter has two offset horizontal blades that cut through to top surface of the raised tomato bed at the crown-soil interface. The blades act to cut and up -heave the cover crop. A roller bar then helps to lay the cover crop down on the surface of the bed. The cover crop for our study was mechanically undercut when it was about 5 feet tall. This was a little to tall. Thoughts are the cover crop should be either chemically killed or mechanically killed when it reaches a height of 3 feet. Cover crops can also be mowed down. However, with a mower there can be an uneven distribution of the cover crop across the bed surface. It is important to realize that the distribution of the cover across the bed surface is very important. In order for the cover crop to be most effective for weed control, retaining soil moisture, & preventing soil splashing it most be uniformly distributed. The picture shows the mechanical undercutter undercutting the cover crop (hairy vetch + winter rye).