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 […]
Cover Crops Enhance Water Infiltration/Percolation Read More »
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
Cover Crops and Ray the Soil guy Read More »
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
Cover Crops in the Great Plains – a view from a long time cover crop user- Part 2 Read More »
I’ve had the privilege of meeting a gentleman from Kansas named Paul Conway. Paul is an avid “cover cropper” and he has been for nearly 20 years! Paul reminds me of my father, who was an early pioneer of no-till (over 40 years of no-tilling on our farms). I have asked Paul to give a
Cover Crops in the Great Plains – a view from a long time cover crop user- Part 1 Read More »
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 Stand Evaluation Taken to a New Level Read More »
Many cover crops were planted in September and even into early October in much of the Midwest in 2011. Some of those cover crops are not very advanced in their growth by mid-November. Does this mean that they are useless or worthless? As I often say in meetings or at field days…”always take a shovel
Short Cover Crops Put Down Deep Roots Read More »
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
Nutrient Scavenging Cover Crops – How much good are they doing? It depends. Read More »
My wife Sally must love me…or at least she is observant to see how cover crops are improving the soil in our family gardens. Over the nearly 19 years we have lived in our home we have had a garden where we often have raised vegetables for the Hispanic families that we minister to. A
Cover crops for gardens – and my wife, the cover cropping queen! Read More »