I have been visiting a farm in eastern Whitley County Indiana over the past month and have seen a few fields of an Austrian Winter Pea/Radish mixture. These fields were wheat fields that had dairy manure knifed into them after they had been harvested and deep tilled. The video shows what a great stand the […]
Radish / Pea Mix Video Read More »
I have heard that a number of aerial applicators admit that they are guessing approximately how wide they need to fly to apply different cover crops. I have seen evidence that some of them have guessed wrong! Two or three years ago an applicator guessed wrong by leaving approximately 80’ wide gaps in a number
Aerial Application of cover crops — an art or a science…or both? Read More »
During my past five years with the Midwest Cover Crops Council, I have heard cover crop experts say that “the farmer who has access to manure is the perfect candidate to use cover crops.” I witnessed this truth up-close and personal this fall when visiting the Leman farm in NW Indiana. The Leman family has
Cover Crops and Manure are a Great Combination Read More »
There are big differences in cover crop radishes. Some are outstanding and consistent; deep and fairly large tubers (tuber girth seems to be related to fertility and age of stand). In the thumb of Michigan I saw over 300 acres of fields planted at 10#/acre that were just what the farmer wanted. We found most
Big Differences in Cover Crop Radishes Read More »
While in northwest Ohio in the Fall of 2010 for a manure management field day, some area farmers told me that wheat producers are adding 2-4# of cover crop radishes per acre to the wheat in the drill…and experiencing excellent results. Some reported gaining 5-7 bushels per acre by adding the radishes. Others even reduced their nitrogen application by 20%
Today, August 3, 2010 I visited some fields in Whitley County Indiana to look at fields where annual ryegrass was not killed quite perfectly this spring. Even though the soybeans look awesome there is a problem lurking under the bean canopy. That problem is a fairly thick stand of annual ryegrass. I found ryegrass in
Is Annual Ryegrass a weed – part 2 Read More »
It’s been 10 1/2 weeks since I planted my Radish test plot in my garden. I have recorded photos and reports in previous posts and now this is the “FINAL JUDGMENT” of the different varieties that were included this spring. I’ll report mainly via photos and captions. Just a reminder, about 5 weeks ago I
May planted Radish Plot final results 8/4/2010 Read More »
After talking to hundreds of row crop producers about cover crops, I was reminded of how much crimson clover offers to the corn farmer. Not only will crimson clover produce somewhere between 70-140 units of N (with approximately 1/2 of that being available for the next crop…the other percentage goes to building soil organic matter), it also
Crimson Clover…Great Cover Crop for Corn Producers Read More »