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 »
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%
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 »
Hairy Vetch is a terrific nitrogen producing cover crop species. For Hairy Vetch to produce significant Nitrogen it needs to be established in adequate time to have good growth before going dormant in winter. Hairy Vetch must also be inoculated to be productive. One challenge with using Hairy Vetch is that it contains significant amounts
Hairy Vetch- a Top Nitrogen Producer Read More »
Let’s face it – unless you, the farmer, can derive great benefit from the use of cover crops, this venture will be utterly useless and a waste of time. If there is no benefit, just keep doing the things you’ve already been practicing. However, if cover crops can really add to our bottom line (and
Cover Crop Benefits Read More »
Crimson clover is a real jewel among the cover crop species. Crimson clover is an excellent producer of nitrogen and there are some newer varieties on the market that are very winterhardy even into Michigan. Dr. Eileen Kladivko measured how much nitrogen was produced by crimson clover in a test plot in western Indiana. What
Crimson Clover; a jewel among the cover crop legumes Read More »
Earthworms are exceptionally valuable builders of healthy, fertile topsoil. Jill Clapperton stated that a good sign of a healthy topsoil was that a “shovel-full of soil” should have 8 earthworms in it. In my field diggings I have found anywhere from ZERO to 10 erathworms per shovel-full. I found 10 in crimson clover, 8 in
Earthworms…valuable resource on farm ground Read More »