Over the past three years I have had the privilege of speaking at a number of meetings when Ray Archuleta is also on the agenda.  Ray is a tremendous source of knowledge and information on soil health . . . → Read More: Cover Crops and Ray the Soil guy]]>

Ray Archuleta and I after we spoke at the Southern Indiana Grazing Conference on soil health and cover crops.

Over the past three years I have had the privilege of speaking at a number of meetings when Ray Archuleta is also on the agenda.  Ray is a tremendous source of knowledge and information on soil health and how cover crops and no-till help improve soil health.  Ray is an “expert” in every sense of the word in his field.  His passion is evidenced each time I hear him speak…and every time I hear him I learn something new too.  Ray works for the NRCS and he travels “everywhere”…at least it seems that way as we cross paths pretty often!  Click here to see Ray’s website. I believe you will find very helpful as you consider the health of your soil and how to improve it.

If you ever have an opportunity to hear Ray speak…DO NOT miss it!

So where have I been? I have been . . . → Read More: Cover Crop Road Trip]]> Cover Crop Education On the Road

Hi folks. I know that most of you have been dying for new blog posts and a newsletter from me. I realize that you can’t sleep at night because you are wondering “is Dave okay?” I appreciate that – even if it’s not true!

So where have I been? I have been busy putting on cover crop meetings across the Midwest since late December.  I have been blessed with the opportunity to speak at some wonderful venues lately:

• Indiana CCA Annual Training Meeting (on aerial applying cover crops)
• Practical Farmers of Iowa annual meeting in Ames, IA (various topics)
• Southern Indiana Grazing Conference (on grazing cover crops)
• Indiana Hort Congress annual meeting (benefits of cover crops)
• West Ohio Agronomy Day meeting (aerial application)
• Allen County (IN) Master Gardeners Annual meeting (cover crops in gardens -and lawns!)
• Many SWCD meetings
• Several Amish meetings
• I even made it out to Wisconsin to visit with industry professionals
• I also worked with a  southern Indiana seed corn dealer and aerial applicator
• You may have seen me at the Ft. Wayne Farm Show or at other meetings and conferences

Upcoming Cover Crop Opportunities

There are some key meetings coming up that I think you should consider attending:

• The Ohio Forage and Grasslands Council is holding their annual meeting on February 10 in Reynoldsburg, OH at the Ohio Dept. of Ag. building from 8:30 AM-3:45 PM.  I will be speaking twice on “How to Maximize Forage Production.”
• On March 6, I will be speaking at the Conservation Tillage and and Technology Conference in Ada, OH.  This meeting is always an excellent learning and networking opportunity for cover croppers.
• On March 7, I will be speaking at the Great Lakes Forage and Grazing Conference in East Lansing, MI.
• One of the very best meetings on cover crops is the Midwest Cover Crop Council Annual Meeting.  This year it is being held at the Beck Agricultural Center in West Lafayette, IN – generously donated by the Beck family - Beck’s Hybrids - on February 28-29.  The main day for farmers to attend will be the 29th.
• Then on March 1 there is the Greater Wabash River RC&D Workshop on Soil Productivity at the same facility.

Along with these meetings and conferences I will be a guest lecturer at Ball State University while also conducting several cover crop and forage meetings in Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan, and southern Indiana.

Cover Crops From the Bottom Up

Root pit digs start in late March and early April.  With the mild winter we are having in the Eastern Corn Belt, I’d bet roots have grown deeper than expected as many cover crops do not yet appear to have gone dormant.

I have lots of stories from producers that are excited about their cover cropping experiences.  I’ll do my best to get those on the blog as soon as possible.  Watch recent (and not so recent videos) on You Tube on the covercropdave station.

Keep sending me or telling me your stories.  I hope to run into you this winter at some of these meetings/conferences.  Be sure to say “hi”.

Dave

In early December, 2011 I visited two farms in Kosciusko County Indiana (NE IN) where producers had intentionally planted cover crops after their wheat was harvested for the purpose of grazing cattle and improving soil.  One of the producers . . . → Read More: Grazing Cover Crops]]>

These cattle have a great body score as they graze on December 6, 2011 in northern Indiana.

In early December, 2011 I visited two farms in Kosciusko County Indiana (NE IN) where producers had intentionally planted cover crops after their wheat was harvested for the purpose of grazing cattle and improving soil.  One of the producers planted a mixture that was featured in this blog.  His Oats/Cereal Rye/Turnip mixture looked beautiful and it appears he will have more feed than he needs to get the cattle through December without feeding much hay!  Only a severe ice storm or exceptionally wet soil would seem to prevent that from happening.  Here is a video my wife and I took from this field.

Just down the road a different farmer planted a different mixture.  His pastures were decimated by the summer drought and over grazing.  Frankly I would not have recommended the mixture he planted…only because I was not sure how the cattle would graze cover crop radishes.  His mixture was 3# Appin turnips and 3# of GroundHog cover crop radishes.  That was all…When my new farmer friend drove me by the field I did not see the cattle…and even then I was noticing a lot of bare soil (the area between all of the brassicas) and was longing to see oats or some grass species out in the field with the brassicas.  Then we found the gent that planted the field.  He was ecstatic!  The cattle were grazing both the turnips and radishes very well. His cattle had great body condition and his feed bill was way down.  My only recommendation was that he feed dry hay to the cattle along with the brassicas so that they would not end up with some health issues (acidosis, foundering, etc…).  Brassicas should not make up more than 30-35% of the diet for cattle and he was at over 80%.  Watch a video from this field.

Here is my wife in the field of cover crop radishes and Appin Turnips on Dec 6, 2011. Note the uncovered soil...that is just another reason to add oats and or cereal rye or annual ryegrass to this mixture.

The cattle needed more fiber in their diet so they ate a significant amount of turnip bulbs. They ate far fewer radish tubers than turnip tubers.

 It is very important to include fiber in the diet of the cattle when grazing turnips and radishes.  The forage quality of the brassica is too high for the cattle to have a healthy rumen. If the producer that planted only the brassicas had fed straw or lower quality dry grass hay the cattle would have been healthier.  I believe that is why the cattle were eating so many bulbs…they needed more fiber.

This line of straw bales were used for bedding in the barns instead of feed for the cattle in the brassica field.

Dave,

Austrian Winter Peas: I have limited and disappointing experience with Austrian Winter Peas.  They always . . . → Read More: Cover Crops in the Great Plains – a view from a long time cover crop user- Part 2]]> In this cover crop post I again quote Paul Conway from Kansas, who is giving his input on cover crops in the Great Plains. In this article, Paul shares his experience with Austrian winter peas, field peas, chickling vetch, and hairy vetch.

Dave,

Austrian Winter Peas: I have limited and disappointing experience with Austrian Winter Peas.  They always winter kill and they must be planted at an inconvenient time.  It seems that the areas where they do well do not follow a simple geographical line.  Austrian Winter Peas do very well about 60 miles south of me in central and southern Kansas.  Ironically, they seem to do fine in the Nebraska panhandle, which is much colder than we are. I think consistent snow cover makes the difference.

Field Peas: also know as Canadian field peas or forage peas. I’ve grown these in early fall with oats and forage radish. I don’t know how much nitrogen they fix but they do winterkill by early winter –  mine haven’t died yet – probably consistent lows in the middle teens will do it.

I also plant them in early spring the same time as oats, killing them for June planted cash crops.  Mowing after flowering will effectively kill peas.  Where peas shine is in mixes and in cool climates.

The pea/oat or pea/triticale is excellent for haylage or silage. These mixes have the same benefits for livestock farmers as the soybean/summer grass mixes.

In much of the Midwest and east, double cropping is possible, oat/peas followed by soybean/milo or sorghum-sudan.  Further north, the oat/pea mixes would mature too late.  In that regard, I think that field peas could be managed as a summer annual (like soybeans) in the Great Lakes states, upstate New York, Pennsylvania, and New England.

Peas can handle routine summer temperatures in the low-mid 80s. Peas can be grazed. Peas aren’t shade tolerant so they don’t do well when sown into row crops.  Frankly outside the mixes I think the clovers may be more versatile.

Chickling Vetch: Also known as “AC Greenfix.” It will fix nitrogen faster both in the fall (it winterkills about the same time as the peas) and in the spring.  AC Greenfix seed is more expensive and harder to plant due to it’s shape.

Hairy Vetch: As you know, hairy vetch is the strongest nitrogen fixer among the annuals.  Hairy vetch easily fits into vegetable rotations. I have seen two foot vine growth and numerous fat nodules on vetch in early-mid April after a mildly wet fall and an early spring.  It will be harder to fit into field crop rotations, especially corn-soybeans.

Here the optimum time to plant hairy vetch is September, but it can be planted as late as mid October.  It needs minimal soil contact which isn’t a problem in a normal fall. A dry September/October, like I had this year, is a problem.

I know that you have some experience with flying in hairy vetch into maturing corn or soybeans.  Another option is to plant it very late (mid-late November) and hope it doesn’t germinate until the soil warms up in late winter-early spring.   I don’t think people realize how versatile hairy vetch can be.  In the northern areas suited for field peas (see above) hairy vetch could be managed as a summer annual. [I have seen hairy vetch flower, drop seed which stays dormant during a hot dry summer - Dave's EMPHASIS HERE - this is why I caution growers about Hairy Vetch.]  When the weather cools down in late August the vetch seed sprouts.  It is still warm then through September and early October with temperatures similiar to the Great Lakes states and New England in the summer.  So why couldn’t vetch be planted in early summer in these areas?

Years ago I planted hairy vetch in April between wide rows of vegetables just to see what would happen.  I remember lots of growth by July, despite a hot dry summer. The soil under the vetch was cool and moist.  The vetch did not grow enough to fix much nitrogen by May but it may have fixed enough nitrogen for mid-summer planted crops.

In 2012 I will plant hairy vetch and other vetches (purple) in the spring and record how they do.

Finally, new cultivars of hairy vetch come out which may have promise.  I will try a new variety called Purple Bounty, which is supposed to mature two weeks earlier but with less winter hardiness.

 

I have learned so much about cover crops since I started this blog in 2010.  One of my hopes has been that I could have guest bloggers that would occasionally share with everyone what their experiences have been.  The following . . . → Read More: Cover Crop Stand Evaluation Taken to a New Level]]>

This handy tool is a great way to tell producers about the agronomics of their crops.

I have learned so much about cover crops since I started this blog in 2010.  One of my hopes has been that I could have guest bloggers that would occasionally share with everyone what their experiences have been.  The following post is from Daryl Starr of Advanced Ag Solutions in Indiana.

I really appreciate reading Cover Crop Dave’s blog posts and had to send him an email after a recent one about aerial seeding success this fall.  We work with several great farmers that use cover crops as part of their no-till crop plan and noticed more than just a few beautiful stands this fall.  One of these stands I had the good fortune of mapping with a new tool in our business, called the Greenseeker NDVI sensor.  This tool allows us to quickly map the “green-ness,” for lack of a better word, of any plant material.

On Nov 18, 2011 I ran an ATV over this field of annual ryegrass that was flown into standing corn in central Indiana.  Our hope is that mapping of cover crops will help us predict the nitrogen release of various areas of the field so that we can adjust for future cash crops.   Of course we will map the actual crops too, but sometimes a map of an actively rooting cover crop might tell us more about the soil profile than a very young corn plant.  At least that is what we hope to compare next spring!

One of the most interesting things about this map is that the soils don’t necessarily match up exactly to the cover crop lushness. From driving it there were certainly areas that the airplane intentionally missed, like the far east side border…trying to keep it off the neighbor.  Then, I noticed only a couple areas that were accidentally missed… actually less than 1 acre in a whole 130 acre field like this.  Then, I could see how sometimes the low ground had a great stand because of thin corn stands due to spring ponding and more light (see Dave’s post on this topic).

And then there were hill tops with good stands because of what I would guess was earlier plant death because of summer drought (again, check out Dave’s post). I don’t know that this exactly correlates with nitrogen but I can tell you that early death or thinner stands would take up less nitrogen, so it might.

Either way this map gives us something else to help understand the crop responsiveness to additional nitrogen while a map of the actual crop would tell us more exactly.  It certainly is more variable than what appeared to be a beautiful and perfectly even stand from the road.

Keep sharing your experiences, Dave!

 

Daryl Starr, President

Advanced Ag Solutions

This map shows how well the cover crop was established when it was flown into standing corn in 2011. Daryl will also use it in 2012 to evaluate the cash crop when it is growing.

1405 Fairfax Drive

Lafayette, IN 47909

Toll Free: 888-512-4890

Mobile: 765-265-6767

Email: Daryl@AdvancedAgSolutions.com

www.AdvancedAgSolutions.com

 

This good news was . . . → Read More: Hallelujah – New RMA ruling provides a BIG boost for cover crop users and Agriculture]]> The Risk Management Agency ruled today to change their policy on cover crop usage and cash crops that follow cover crops.  In a previous post I reported some limitations that the RMA had on following cover crops (cover crops could not be headed out, could not be harvested before planting cash crop, etc…).

This good news was reported by Carrie Muehling of WJBC Radio. I will update this soon with further reaction from industry professionals.

I’d would also like to publicly thank RMA for hosting a group of us in Springfield, IL this past summer.  They were willing to listen to successful farmers, agronomists, NRCS, SWCD, and industry leaders as we discussed the multiple benefits that cover crops provide.  Also a special thanks to those folks that continued to “carry the cover crop message” all summer and fall – even to Washington D.C. – to tell the success stories that farmers are experiencing with cover crops.

This is a GOOD DAY for agriculture.

A field like this will now be elegible for crop insurance in 2012 as long as it is killed by June 5th.

But there is some question of when to fly cover crops into soybeans.  The range of discussion on this topic usually goes from 50% yellow leaf to 50% . . . → Read More: When to apply cover crops into soybeans]]> For some time I have promoted aerial applying cover crops into standing cash crops.  We have a pretty definitive maturity set for corn when it comes to aerial application.

But there is some question of when to fly cover crops into soybeans.  The range of discussion on this topic usually goes from 50% yellow leaf to 50% leaf drop.  The main goal from both viewpoints is sunlight reaching the soil to benefit the young seedlings.

To plant at 50% yellow leaf stage usually gains a farmer an extra 7-10 days of cover crop growth.  However, applying at 50% leaf drop assures better exposure to the sunlight for the seedlings.  I think that both options are excellent choices because I have seen both work very well. One thing we know for sure on the timing is that if the soybeans are still green over much of the field then the producer will have to wait for the beans to mature more.

This field was aerial applied on September 16. It was approximately 50% yellow leaf. The beans were planted in 7" rows. The cover crops in this field look very good.

Is it ever too early to apply when the soybeans are at 50% yellow leaf? Possibly – but when?

• When planting into narrow rows (7-8″ rows) it seems that we might want to wait until the soybeans are more mature.

• When there is great variation in the field.  It’s not uncommon to find “pockets” in the field that are still quite green when the rest of the field is more yellow.  When this happens I’d suggest waiting to apply until the vast majority of the field is yellowing. In the area where the soybeans are green there will be considerably less cover crop established.

• If the soybeans are maturing earlier  and you are waiting for moisture (like in 2010) then waiting seems to make economic and agronomic sense. If it stays dry up until harvest then consider waiting until after harvest and incorporate the cover crops into the soil (by drilling or using a light “vertical tillage” after the cover crops have been spread).

Patience is often very rewarding.  Being patient to aerial apply cover crops into soybeans most often gives great rewards!

The left half of the photo above had been in 30" soybean rows. The right half had been beans in 7" rows. When aerial applying into soybeans planted in 7" rows be sure that the soybeans are around 75% yellow leaf and possibly at 50% leaf drop stage for the best establishment success.

This field needs to be more mature before aerial applying cover crops. In this situation the cover crop would be less likely to establish well.