Plant Cover Crops

Learning about the benefits of planting cover crops.

Cover Crop Plots

More Fall Cover Crop Field Days Coming

This fall there are more cover crop field days to attend in Iowa and Wisconsin.

 

For those in Iowa see http://practicalfarmers.org/blog/2013/fall-2013-cover-crop-field-days-scheduled

In Wisconsin there are two field days:

There will be opportunities to look in soil pits in Northern climates to see just what is going on beneath the surface of the soil.
There will be opportunities to look in soil pits in Northern climates to see just what is going on beneath the surface of the soil.

October 21, 2013 – 10:30am – Cover Crop Plot Tour
Hosted by Legacy Seeds’ Kris Tessar and Ag Ventures Shawano
Located at the farm of Paul McClone on Cty BE in Bonduel, WI
Dave Robison will be speaking – Lunch will follow the tour
RSVP to Ag Ventures at 715-524-8812
October 22, 2013 – 10:30am – Cover Crop Plot Tour
Hosted by Legacy Seeds’ Kris Tessar and ADM
Located at the farm of Ken Huber at 3848 Cty P in Oxford, WI
Dave Robison will be speaking – Lunch will follow the tour
RSVP to ADM (Perry or Sue) at 800-367-4057

I hope to see you there!  Dave

 

Badger Plot Cover Crop Research Site – Producer Day Schedule Announced

Join me with Wisconsin NRCS at the Badger Plot Cover Crop Research Site on October 2, 2013 @ Jeff and Jerry Kreuziger Farms near Clyman, WI.  Sessions will run from 9:30-Noon or 1:00-3:30 CST.  This looks to be a great day to learn more about cover crops and soil health in southern Wisconsin/northern Illinois regions.

 

For more information see Badger Plot Research-Producer Day.

Damon Reabe from Reabe Spraying Services - Waupun, WI plays a big role in applying cover crops in SE WI. Damon provided this photo.
Damon Reabe from Reabe Spraying Services – Waupun, WI plays a big role in applying cover crops in SE WI. Damon provided this photo.

 

Cover Crop and Forage Meeting Aug 14, 2013

On August 14, 2013 the University of Wisconsin is holding an Agronomy Field Day at the Marshfield Ag Research Station.   The line-up of speakers looks outstanding and CEU credits are available for Certified Crop Advisers.

I will be speaking out at the cover crop plots looking at how we can use cover crops as forages and benefit the soil at the same time.

KY Forages April 2011 041
An Annual Ryegrass cover crop can make excellent dairy quality baleage/silage in the fall if planting after wheat. It also is a fabulous scavenger of N and P with deep roots.

For past blog posts on using cover crops for forages looks here and here.

Four Cover Crop Field Days in NW Indiana and Down-State Illinois

The plots in Indiana and at TNT farms will have soil pits to look at the roots and to see how the soil is benefitting from the cover crops.

I know that there are lots of cover crop field days that I do not list on this site.

However, I usually try to get cover crop field days listed on the Midwest Cover Crops Council website when I hear about them.   However, I have four field days that I believe will be attractive to all of my Midwestern cover crop friends.

The first “event” listed below is actually 2 events on back to back days held in neighboring counties.

 

 

 

 

Jasper/Newton County Cover Crop Field Days – 2 days of cover crop tours put on by Newton and Jasper Counties in Indiana (NW IN). Dan Perkins and Rose Morgan are two of the top SWCD people for putting on field days in Indiana and there will be lots to see.

TNT Farm – Terry Taylor (TNT Farm) is an avid cover cropper and an excellent farmer in down-state Illinois.  Terry is hosting a field day on his farm on November 7, 2012 that promises to be an excellent opportunity to learn about using cover crops on heavier soils.

Dudley Smith Farm Beef Cow-Calf Field Day – I will be speaking on The Role of Cover Crops in a Grazing Program in Pana, IL on November 8, 2012.  I will be working that day with the “best of the best,” Ed Ballard, who introduced me to cover crops and extending the grazing season while using cover crops. I have spoken in years past at this event and U of I always puts on a great meeting that is very valuable to beef cattle producers.

As harvest winds down it is time to plan for 2013.  Please consider attending one of these four meetings to learn more about how cover crops can impact your farming operation.

At the 2011 Cover Crop Field Days in Jasper and Newton County, Indiana, Dan Perkins found a BIG surprise of a radish. It will be interesting to see what is found in the field days this year.

Cover Crops Planted After Wheat in a Dry Year

Can you still gain value in a cover crop when it is planted after wheat in a dry year?

During the week of October 15, 2012 I traveled a wide swath of Wisconsin looking at cover crops.  In the eastern half of the state the cover crops looked very good.  In the western half the cover crops looked desperately poor.   The difference?  Moisture.

Northwestern Wisconsin – Terribly Dry

While on farms near Osceola, WI (right along the St. Croix River – the river that forms the border between Wisconsin and Minnesota in that part of the state), I observed a sad sight.  Cover crops that had been in the ground for 6 weeks were either not germinated  or had little growth.  While the early part of the growing season had more than adequate rainfall and corn yields were near 200 bu/acre, the last 7-8 weeks has seen less than 1/2″ and the cover crops look…well, they look horrible.

Central Sands Region – Dry But with Some Promise

Near Hancock, in the Central Sands Region of Wisconsin, there is a mixed bag of results.

Where farmers used irrigation to “water -up” the cover crops, there are nice stands with adequate growth to have a “successful” cover crop to achieve many benefits.  Unfortunately, where there was no irrigation used there was much less “success.”

Again, it was dry for several weeks before and after the cover crops were planted after the wheat crop had been harvested.  A few days before my cover crop field day there was a 4 inch rain.  The farmer and dealer present said that the plot “changed overnight” as it had grown so much since there was some moisture.

The beautiful thing about the cover crops in the central sands is that they established and actually looked amazingly good compared to what I envisioned they would. The winter cereal rye was tillered nicely and the oats were 5-6 inches tall.  The radishes, oats,and rye all drilled through the compaction zone that we found at 3-4 inches deep.

What was not apparently impressive was the crimson clover or Austrian winter peas – at least not for coverage or height. The crimson clover was only about 1 inch tall and the peas were 3-4 inches tall.  However, what was surprising was how many nodules were on the clover and peas and that the roots were 4-5″ deep and through the compaction zone as well!

Northeastern Wisconsin – What a Difference Moisture Makes

The crimson clover was not at all impressive even though the seed was planted 7 weeks previous to this photo being taken. However, with virtually no rainfall it is amazing there was any clover established at all in the Central Sands Region of WI.
Seven or eight weeks of dry weather did not help cover crops in this field near Osceola, WI emerge very quickly in 2012. Will there be any value to this cover crop? Sadly, no.  Note how small the radishes and turnips are.  These cannot be declared valuable to this farmer.  Thankfully the winter Rye should survive the winter.

 

 

 

With less than 1/2″ of rain since planting into dry soil, this cover crop field in western Wisconsin near Osceola never had a chance to achieve the goals the farmer had for it improving the soil.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the test plot in the Central Sands Region.  From Right to left; Radishes, Oats, Winter Rye, and various mixes. Are these cover crops valuable? I believe so because they are through the compaction zone and the rye and many of the mixes will have components that survive the winter.

 

 

If you enlarge this photo you will be amazed how many nodules are on this tiny crimson clover plant. The roots were over 5″ deep which was through the compaction zone at the Hancock, WI plot.