Radishes, Crimson Clover, and Bears Walking in cover crop fields in northern Indiana is easy compared to doing it northern Wisconsin. In northern Indiana my main issue is tripping over large radish tubers sticking out of the ground. In northern Wisconsin my main issue was that plus watching out for bears. I’m not talking about […]
Cover Crops and Bears? Read More »
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 Cropping North of I-80 After Corn & Soybeans – A Whole New World? Read More »
The Midwest Cover Crop Council (MCCC) has added different states and cropping systems to their useful cover crop selection tool. This tool is a very helpful item that assists producers in choosing what cover crops can be used in their counties with their cropping systems and their choice of cover crop characteristics. Most recently Michigan
More Cover Crop Selection Tools Available Read More »
In previous posts I have shared about the importance of applying cover crops at the correct time. I also looked at the difference in how cover crops emerged in corn and soybean fields when aerial applied in the fall of 2011. In the past several weeks I have traveled over much of Indiana and northwestern
The Importance of Sunshine in Cover Crop Establishment Read More »
Cover crop cereal rye has been getting some “bad press” over the past month. It has been suggested that there is a connection with cover crop rye and Goss’s Wilt in corn (cereal rye making the Goss’s Wilt disease worse in corn). I have talked to a few agronomists who had never heard of cover
Cover Crop Cereal Rye: Is there a (bad) connection with Goss’s Wilt in corn? Read More »
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
Farmer Report from Ohio – Planting into “Out of Control” Peas Read More »
Frost seeding clover into wheat has been a standard practice for many years. Many producers have used “60/40 Plowdown Clover” in their wheat…but in many areas that practice has stopped as double crop soybean plantings have pushed further into northern Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. If double crop soybeans are not an option (or not desired)
Medium Red Clover as a cover crop 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%