The following was originally posted on May 27, 2011 when the Eastern Corn Belt was suffering with severe flooding and wet conditions. In 2013 the Upper Midwest – especially Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin – is flooded and wet. Many farmers are considering taking the crop insurance for prevented planting. Even if it would stop raining […]

Fertilizing Cover Crops & Planting Legumes After Soybeans
If you spend any time at all in cover crop meetings, you may have heard that it’s a good idea to add 20-50# of Nitrogen per acre to your cover crop – if you don’t have a legume in the mix or you don’t have manure available. You also probably heard (or participated in) the grumbling […]

Cover Cropping North of I-80 After Corn & Soybeans – A Whole New World?
Sarah Carlson from Practical Farmers of Iowa reminded me that cover cropping north of I-80 is different than cover cropping in northern Indiana. She’s right. But how different is it, and why is it different? Sarah is quoted in a very good article in Corn and Soybean Digest that helps explain the differences. Several farmers […]

Cover Crops Provide Improved Corn Yields in On-Farm Trial
All of what is reported below was accomplished after only one year of cover crops. This work was inspired by a conversation Don and I had last winter with Dr. Eileen Kladivko from Purdue University. As I say in cover crop meetings, Don’t expect a miracle the first year – but look for one. Over […]

Inoculating Cover Crop Legumes Pays Off
Several farmers have asked me why they need to spend an “extra” 4-6 cents per pound to inoculate the legume seed they are planting for producing nitrogen with their cover crops. I get asked this especially about Austrian Winter Peas and Cowpea. However, if you are planting Crimson Clover, Berseem Clover, Kura Clover, Alsike, Hairy […]

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

Nutrient Scavenging Cover Crops – How much good are they doing? It depends.
Meet the Cover Crop Scavengers Over the years I have worked with cover crops I have recommended that producers use “scavengers” like Annual Ryegrass, turnips, cereal rye, winter barley, oats, and cover crop radishes. These cover crops do a very good job of capturing excess nitrogen and other nutrients and keeping them from reaching the […]

Cover Crop Field Day Set at Robison Farms
CISCO Seeds, Robison Farms, and Dougherty Fertilizer are sponsoring a Cover Crop Field Day and Root Dig at the Greenwood, Indiana farm. If you’ve not had an opportunity to see cover crops in a real life farm setting, this will be a great meeting for you . There will be multiple species available to look […]

Farmer Report from Ohio – Planting into “Out of Control” Peas
My good friend David from Mercer County, Ohio is a great cover crop advocate. Over the past few years he and his father-in-law have begun planting cover crops after their wheat crop is harvested. The first year he planted oats and cover crop radish and this past year they planted a mixture called N-Vest® Groundbreaker […]
Categories
- Adding Nitrogen to cover crops (1)
- Cover Crop Benefits (71)
- Breaking Up Compaction (18)
- Cover Crop Roots (12)
- Erosion Control (1)
- Higher Yields (21)
- Lower Inputs (4)
- Manure management (6)
- Soil Improvement (15)
- Water infiltration/percolation (3)
- Weed Suppression (4)
- Breaking Up Compaction (18)
- Cover Crop Challenges (68)
- Aerial Application (9)
- Aerial Application into Soybeans (2)
- Chemical Use and Cover Crops (7)
- Cover Crops in Iowa (3)
- Cover Crops in Wisconsin (6)
- Crop insurance (4)
- Delayed Spring Planting (8)
- Dormant Seed (2)
- Establishing in dry conditions (2)
- High-boy application (1)
- Killing Annual Ryegrass in the Spring (7)
- Misinformation and Myths (5)
- Prevented planting (11)
- Radish Smell (1)
- Risk Management (5)
- Seed Selection: What to Plant After… (11)
- Seeding Rates (2)
- Stand Establishment Following Cover Crops (5)
- Timing of Planting (3)
- Wild Radishes (1)
- Winterhardiness (3)
- Cover Crop Champions (1)
- Cover Crop Wearables (1)
- Cover Crops – Return on Investment (2)
- Cover Crops & No-Till (1)
- Cover Crops effect on spring Soil temperatures (4)
- Cover Crops in Minnesota (4)
- Cover Crops in the Northland (8)
- Education (70)
- Aerial Application Certification (2)
- Cover Crop Meetings (9)
- Cover Crop Plots (12)
- Cover Crop Research (12)
- Decision Making Tool (2)
- Field Days (11)
- Improved Varieties (6)
- Midwest Cover Crops Council (3)
- Midwest Cover Crops Field Guide (1)
- Online Training Seminars (4)
- Radish Plot (7)
- Surveys (3)
- Webinars (3)
- YouTube Videos (13)
- Grazing Cover Crops (10)
- Cover Crops for Forage (3)
- Fall Grazing (3)
- Lower Yields possible (1)
- Terminating Cover Crops (1)
- Types of Cover Crops (60)
- Annual Ryegrass (10)
- Austrian Winter Peas (9)
- Cowpeas (2)
- Crimson Clover (10)
- Hairy Vetch (2)
- Kura Clover (1)
- Mustard (1)
- Oats (4)
- Radishes (24)
- Red Clover (2)
- Sorghum Sudangrass (1)
- Sudangrass (1)
- Turnips (4)
- Winter Barley (1)
- Winter Cereal Rye (12)
Newsletter
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Cover Crop Turnips – A Good Choice Over Radishes? April 14, 2012
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Planting cover crop radishes with wheat? How do you plant them? October 5, 2011
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Austrian Winter Peas June 12, 2010
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Cover Crops for Fall and Winter Grazing July 26, 2012
- Winter Cereal Rye July 15, 2010
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New articles out on Cover Crops in the Upper Midwest March 27, 2014
- Broadcast Recording Available from National Cover Crops Conference February 28, 2014
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Cover Crops- It is Amazing how much interest there is these days! February 23, 2014
- Cover Crop Meetings Winter 2014 December 18, 2013
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More Fall Cover Crop Field Days Coming October 17, 2013
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Dave: Scott, Where are you from? And, have you taken a ...
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Dave: Steve, I do not have answers to your questions......
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Dave: JD, Interseeding at V5/V6 is proving to be "risk...
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Dave: Edith, Mississippi State University did some work ...
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Dave: Mike, Good question! Michigan State University r...
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