Plant Cover Crops

“Midwest Cover Crops Field Guide” Now Available

Dave — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 13:08:37 +0000

Over the past year I have had the honor and privilege of working with a group of university, NRCS, and ARS professionals on putting together the Midwest Cover Crop Field Guide. This guide (pocket sized) is pretty specific to the Midwestern part of the USA. However, many of the species can be used in other parts of the country and world. I would highly recommend that you get your hands on this guide as soon as you can.

This list of contibutors to the field guide is impressive. What an honor I had to serve with them on this project.

The Midwest Cover Crops Field Guide is now available!

Killing Cover Crop Annual Ryegrass – How Are We Doing?

Dave — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 12:38:00 +0000

Over the winter of 2011-12 I did nearly 55 cover crop meetings across the Midwest. And one of the “hottest” topics was how to kill annual ryegrass in the spring. This topic is almost like the Tim Tebow of the cover crop world. Some have no problems managing it and some hate it (cannot get it killed).

During the meetings I suggested that farmers read a really good article on Ag Web that I was asked to help write along with Mike Plumer, Dan Towery, and a few others. In the article Mike Plumer and Dan Towery both give excellent advice on killing annual ryegrass. I have also written quite a bit on the blog about killing tall annual ryegrass. The one theme we make sure producers know is that they need to kill the annual ryegrass dead!

At this point many farmers swear that they have no problems and others just swear!

I have done a couple of videos that I hope help in this matter. They are pretty representative from what I have seen this spring across the Eastern Corn Belt. The first video was taken before spraying, the second taken after spraying was done. A third video shows the difference between killing annual ryegrass versus killing cereal rye.

One of my key points is that we be ready to spray again if we see green. Don’t assume that if you see green that the initial herbicide application will eventually work.

Please forgive the wind noise on the second and third videos. I used the mic but it was very windy.

This Annual Ryegrass plant was almost killed. But almsot is NOT good enough!

Annual ryegrass on the left and cereal rye on the right. Look at the massive amount of cover on the annual ryegrass!

This green leaf tells us that the plant is not entirely dead. While we may have a 99% kill this plant will end up producing seed if it is not terminated.

Cover Crop Root Pits Reveal Plenty

Dave — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 23:23:44 +0000

During the first week of April I was in several root pits in northwest Indiana and boy did we find plenty of interesting factoids! I was assisted by Eileen Kladivko from Purdue University on one day and Barry Fisher, Indiana NRCS State Agronomist, on another day.

What We Found in the Cover Crop Root Pits

We found several night crawlers and smaller worms as well in each pit we were in

Earthworms galore, especially where we had radishes and/or crimson clover. But the earthworms were plentiful in all cover crop species.
Earthworm channels 48″ deep in a field that had been long term no-till with one year of cover crop annual ryegrass/radish mix (planted after soybeans).
Roots from two different crops in the same root zone/earthworm channel (soybeans and cover crop roots) over 30″ deep.
Earthworm eggs where radishes had decayed.
Soybean nodules 26″ deep on roots that went 44″ deep (long term no-till field – 10 years).
Annual ryegrass roots that were not as deep following corn as they were following soybeans (less N available for them to grow as vigorously).
Canola or oilseed rape in fields where bin run oats had been planted instead of seed oats.
Continued evidence of compaction. One year of cover crops does not eliminate all compaction issues (though roots from cover crops did penetrate through the compaction).
Radish and radish roots that were 34″ deep last fall were found at 40″ deep this spring (though dead).
Living radishes. Several radishes survived the Indiana winter (very mild winter), especially where they were protected by crimson clover and annual ryegrass.
20 earthworm channels and 5 earthworms in an area 8″ by 8″ square at 6 inches deep (in a mixture of annual ryegrass, crimson clover, and cover crop radishes).
700 acres of oats and radishes looking very different in the spring than it did in the fall! (Click the links to see the different videos)

Miscellaneous Notes from the Cover Crop Root Pits

The farmer from our first cover crop root pit dig on April 4th reported that he saw less visible drought stress where they had long term no-till and cover crops, attributing the healthier plants to increased root depth.

We saw several fields of cereal rye after corn stalks being grazed by beef cattle.

Barry Fisher encouraged everyone to “expand your farm vertically.” In other words, don’t just keep buying/renting more land. Instead, put cover crop roots down deeper to create better land where you farm – and get more yield.

Be sure to control your annual ryegrass instead of waiting on the crimson clover to grow taller. Much of the ryegrass was 10-12″ tall with the crimson clover at 6-8″ tall.

Farmers are becoming more creative with cover crop applications and types, and they are finding success – not surprising!

Other than the "extra goodies" from the VNS oats, this field was ready to plant without herbicide in the spring.

We saw several fields where cattle were grazing cereal rye planted into corn stalks.

Cereal rye in one row and crimson clover and Appin turnips in the other row (mixed together).

One of the joys of working with farmers is the excitement I see on their faces when they "get it" about soil health. There were several excited farmers again this spring.

We found several earthworm eggs around the decayed radish holes.

We found roots from soybeans and annual ryegrass in the same root zone/earthworm channel.

Cover Crop Turnips – A Good Choice Over Radishes?

Dave — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 00:34:48 +0000

Cover Crop Radishes or Turnips as a Cover Crop – or Both?

Cover crop radishes certainly receive a lot of press. I have researched them quiet a bit over the past four years. On this blog alone I have over 20 posts about radishes. They are fun to take photos of, dig around in, research, and even play baseball with.

It is hard to pick up a publication that mentions cover crops and not read about radishes and their benefits. Some industry and university cover crop research leaders like Steve Groff and Dr. Ray Wiel (University of Maryland) have researched radishes for over 10 years.You might say that cover crop radishes are the “Rock Star” of cover crop species these days.

What About Turnips?

Why are turnips used as a cover crop so little compared to radishes? Are they the “ugly step-sister” of the Brassica family?

Let’s look at some of the benefits of turnips. Some newer varieties (Appin in particular) provide a bulb that is almost entirely in the soil and a deep root system (though a smaller bulb/tuber than the radish).

Benefits of Turnips

Turnips are very palatable for grazing cattle and sheep.
Most turnips survive the winter and hold onto nutrients into the spring (longer than radishes).
Turnips sequester nutrients in a similar fashion and amount as radishes (see data below).
Turnips are easy to kill in the spring.
Turnips do not have the odor problems that radishes have (therefore they can be planted more “safely” in areas closer to towns or neighbors).

“Problems” with Turnips

Not all turnips are created equal. The old purple top (or that type) turnip and even the tankard type turnips have very little of the bulb in the soil – thus less soil activity.
Most turnips survive the winter and then need to be killed in the spring. Yes this can also be a benefit.
The turnips “bolt” in the spring and want to produce seed. Kill them as early as possible.
Turnips will overwinter in the spring. The turnips above flowered out in March 2012 in central Indiana. This is nearly 5 weeks before "normal"

Frequently Asked Questions

If we mix turnips and radishes together, is that okay? YES – for grazing or for just using as a cover crop.
If we plant turnips instead of radishes is that okay? Yes – just be aware of the differences and that the turnips will most likely survive the winter.
What if we are just looking to graze and only care some about the cover crop? Choose turnips.

These three brassica types were collected from a Loundonville, OH farm in the fall. Pasja Hybrid Brassica (L); GroundHog Cover Crop Radish (C); and Appin Turnip (R). Note the difference in tops versus tubers.

Nitrogen tested in Radishes/acre from Loudonville, OH dairy farm averages 200 units of N (data collected November 2010)

Nitrogen tested in Appin Turnip/acre from Loudonville, OH dairy farm showed nearly 300 units of N (data collected November 2010)

The turnip tops had nearly 200 units of N/acre. This was NOT scientific but it is instructive that turnips are an excellent scavenger of N.

Cover Crops Enhance Water Infiltration/Percolation

Dave — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 04:17:35 +0000

In late September of 2011 I was walking in our family corn field in central Indiana–in the pouring rain. Following the wettest spring in the eastern corn belt in 100 years we had a summertime drought that saw less than 2 inches in July and August combined. In that same time period we had 32 days above 90 degrees.

We just had 3 inches of rain yet my soil was dry at 1/2 inch in this area that had been tilled wet in the spring.

On this September day we were having rain…3 inches worth of glorious rain! I threw on my rain coat and Tingley boots, grabbed my shovel and went into the corn field where our cover crop plots had been planted in the fall of 2010 and killed in May 2011. As I walked through the field I noticed that where the soil had been tilled (see previous blog post) I was seeing dry soil underneath my boot track! Now catch the scene here…no rain for much of 60+ straight days…now a 3″ rain and virtually none of the moisture getting into the soil! Literally I had less than 1/2″ of the soil depth that was moist! Dry footprints followed me all the way to the end of the field. I was not happy.

When I reached the area where the cover crop test plot was (that area was not tilled this spring) I dug into the check area that was no-tilled yet did not have a cover crop. In that area I dug into the soil and I found moisture 2 1/2-3 inches deep. This area was now no-tilled for 23 straight years. That made me feel better.

Water was standing (or running off) of the soil that was tilled wet in the spring of 2011. There was very little infiltration from a 3 inch rain

In this photo we see infiltration at 2 1/2 - 3 inches deep. This soil has been no-tilled for 23 straight years.

Then I dug in the area that had been no-tilled for 23 straight years and had a cover crop the previous winter. I was very pleased when I dug in the areas where we previously had annual ryegrass and cereal rye and found moisture had filtered (penetrated) in 7 (seven) inches deep!

Water infiltrated 7 inches deep where we had corn no-tilled into cover crop rye.

This section of the field had a cereal rye cover crop in 2010-11 and was no-tilled. Note the lack of water standing on top of the soil! Where did the water go? Into the soil!

Watch these videos on what I found when digging for earthworms in this sections with cover crops and no-till and where there was tillage without a cover crop. I believe we have an additional answer to why I had so much better infiltration where I had the cover crops..earthworms and roots!

This "rogue" radish provided information that we had a compaction zone at about 3 inches deep in our no-till field; thus reducing water infiltration where we had no cover crop.

Yet, I wondered, why did the moisture stop at 2 1/2-3″ in the no-till plots? I found the answer from a rogue radish. We had a few radishes that came up in the field that had been planted in the fall of 2010 (the fall of 2010 was so dry that many of the radishes did not come up until very late…or not until spring, or in a few cases until mid-summer). As I previously wrote, Radish does have some hard seed. I dug around one of the radishes and found a constriction in the radish at 2 1/2-3″ deep! Even after 23 years of no-till I still had a compaction problem! I believe that is one reason why cover crops help producers to transition from conventional tillage to no-till…cover crops penetrate through compaction layers.

Outstanding Cover Crop Meetings Coming Up

Dave — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 21:41:55 +0000

I will be speaking at the CTC meeting in Ada, OH again in 2012. There are many outstanding speakers at both conferences.

There are two tremendous meetings coming up in the next two weeks featuring cover crop information. One is the Midwest Cover Crops Council annual meeting held at the Beck Agricultural Center near West Lafayette, IN. Producers should make a great effort to attend on Wednesday and Thursday if at all possible. The Thursday meeting is the Greater Wabash River RC&D Workshop on Soil Productivity and it promises to be a very good meeting for producers if you cannot make the MCCC meeting on Wednesday.

The other meeting that is coming up on March 6-7 is the Conservation Tillage and Technology Conference in Ada, OH. This conference has grown tremendously in the past few years as a full day is now dedicated to having meetings on cover crops. If you only want to learn about cover crops then attend Tuesday March 6. However, look at the full agenda and see that there are many more topics that you will probably find very helpful to your farming operation.

I hope to see you at these meetings! Dave

Cover Crops and Ray the Soil guy

Dave — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 03:04:14 +0000

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!

Cover Crop Road Trip

Dave — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 21:38:17 +0000

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

In my spare time, I learned Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, and got a part time job as an aerobics instructor. So, as you can see, it’s been busy.

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

Grazing Cover Crops

Dave — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:01:22 +0000

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.

Planting into “Out of Control” Peas – The Rest of the Story

Dave — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:06:23 +0000

In September 2011 I posted about an Ohio farmer that planted into “out of control” peas and shared about his story of how the field was looking pre-harvest. I have recently visited with Dave (the producer) and he shared the information that a number of you asked for…and also surprising yield data. Dave farms with his father-in-law Ron in Mercer County, Ohio near Rockford (NW Ohio).

Sometimes it takes courage to farm with cover crops! Dave and his father-in-law Ron planted with confidence as the ground was "very mellow" compared to other ground without a cover crop.

Here are Dave’s observations and the 2010-2011 field history:

Hog Manure applied late summer of 2010 – 5000 gal/ac
No other fall fertilizer
N-Vest Groundbreaker Mix (Austrian Winter Peas and GroundHog Radish) planted Labor Day weekend 2010

Peas that survived - and other weeds, wheat, clover, etc. - were sprayed (after a wet, wet spring) on June 2, 2011.

________________________________________________

Herbicide/Insecticide Mix: (rates per acre)
20 gal Water
Alliance – .2 gal (1 gal/100 gal water)
Roundup WeatherMax – 44oz
Weedone 650 – 1pt
PowerLock Surfactant – 6oz
Baythroid (insecticide) – 2oz

Corn was planted on June 3, 2011.

Additional Fertilizer applied (in addition to nutrients from manure and N from peas)

20 gal/ac 10-34-0 starter fertilizer with 1qt/ac zinc

40 gal/ac 28-0-0 side dress with Agrotain N stabilizer

Results

Even though several acres in the area were too wet to plant this field of peas was in great shape as you can see the row closed "perfectly" behind the planter.

Weigh wagon test showed 215 bu dry yield. Dave guesses the whole field average was between 200-215 dry (he has no scales at home to check weight of entire crop).
Dave also thinks that the yield was 10-15 bu better that most of their other corn (w/o manure and w/o cover crops).

The seed placement of this no-till planting into the peas was "near-perfect".

All things considered…the wettest spring in Eastern Corn Belt History, late planting date, planting into 3+ foot tall peas, < 1″ of rain in the month of July (with 22 days 90 degrees or more), a wet fall that delayed harvest..and the result was over 200 bushels/acre. I’d take that everyday for that part of Ohio, and so will Dave and his father-in-law Ron.

The roots on the peas were massive by early June. Don't expect this in most years but this certainly did not hinder planting, getting a good stand, or attaining a very high yield!

Other observations from Dave:

Positives:

Better soil structure

Deeper root penetration by corn roots

Great seedbed to plant into

Great soil cover after cover crop was killed

Better water retention thru the dry months

Nutrients saved from hog manure

Negatives:

Too much growth in wet spring

Took a lot of time to plant due to pea growth

Thanks Dave for sharing your story!