Plant Cover Crops

Learning about the benefits of planting cover crops.

Webinars

Cover Crops- It is Amazing how much interest there is these days!

It is amazing how much interest there is in cover cropping these days!

Sarah Carlson from Practical Farmers of Iowa and I were discussing this fact in Omaha, NE earlier this week.  To think that there would be a conference like we attended in Omaha was almost a “dream” when we were attending some of the first Midwest Cover Crop Council Meetings less than 10 years ago.  Many thanks to Eileen Kladivko, Dale Mutch, Dean Baas, Tom Kaspar, Anne Verhallen, Alan Sundermeier, and others who set the pace and path and vision for sharing and researching the benefits of cover cropping.

Dave Robison
I had the privilege of speaking to over 1,000 farmers at the National No-Till Conference in Springfield, IL in January 2014. Being a long-time no-tiller; this was a highlight of my career.

So, where am I these days?  (kind of like “Where’s Waldo?)  Over the past seven weeks I have  spoken in many states (NY, OH, WI, NE, MI, etc…) and at Ridgetown, Ontario.  I have spoken to well over 2,000 producers these past 50 days.  I keep telling my wife I’ll check in as often as possible and I try to keep the kids aware of where I am and where I am going (I use this as great geography lessons!).  The interest in cover cropping is astounding.  I am excited to see so many producers that are using cover crops are excited about what they are doing…I am 100% confident this is NOT a fad.

I have a few more cover crop meetings to add that you might find very interesting.

On March 5 at 10AM I am speaking at the Yahara Pride Farms 2014 Watershed-Wide Conference: Building on our Progress at  Lake Windsor Golf Club  4628 Golf Road, Windsor, WI 53598  For more information contact: rachel@yaharapridefarms.org; 608-255-6329 ;  www.yaharapridefarms.org.

Starting on March 6 the American Society of Agronomy is conducting a number of Cover Crop webinars.  The speakers on the presentations are among the “who’s-who” in cover cropping research and practice.  Please register and watch these free webinars!

On March 13 I will be speaking at the Bay County  Soil Conservation District’s Soil Health and Cover Crop Meeting in Pinconning, MI.  This meeting involves some excellent speakers on soil health and also on local cover crop research.

Also in Wisconsin I am speaking at three Legacy Seeds Cover Crop Seminars.  Please contact the folks at Legacy Seeds at karen@legacyseeds.com to preregister.  Registrations starts at 9:30 and the meetings start at 10 AM.  Early order “discounts” will be available.  Lunch will be served at each location.

March 18 at  Jakes Northwoods 1132 Angelo Rd. Sparta, WI  608-269-5010

March 19 at the Eagles Club 2588 hwy. 53 Chippewa Falls, WI 54729 715-723-0172

March 20 at  Cobblestone Creek Dining and Banquet Center 740 West Ryan St. Brillion, WI 54110 920-756-3214

On April 1 Winnebago Soil & Water Conservation District and AgTech are sponsoring a Cover Crop Workshop in Durand, IL.  I am honored to speak at this event.  There is an optional field tour after lunch.  Preregister by 3-25-14.

On May 9 There is a Soil Health Field Day – Sponsored by Catawba SWCD in Newton, North Carolina.  I will not be attending this meeting but it sure sounds like a great day!   Thanks to Russell Hedrick for passing this along.

Also, sometime in April – Robison Farms (my brother Don and I along with mom and dad) hope to host a field day at our Greenwood, IN farm where we have 5 acres of replicated cover crop research.  More details will follow soon on this.

These are exciting times in Agriculture.  Remember to be thankful for those who have come before us and for those who share their knowledge and vision with us.  More importantly share your vision and knowledge with others.  Most importantly, be thankful to the God of Creation who gives us the responsibility to care for His creation.

 

Dave

 

 

Cover Crop Q/A on Sequestering N from Drought Stricken Corn Crop

Have you ever wished you could get some “one on one” time with cover crop experts, two whom also happen to be plant or soil scientists?

Consider yourself fortunate because you can now have a “fireside chat” with John Meisinger from Maryland and Tom Kaspar from Iowa, and me.  After the CropLife Webinar – Dealing with Drought: Securing Unused Nitrogen in a Dry Year the three of us were challenged to answer the questions from the audience that were asked during the webinar.  We did not have time to answer the questions on the live webinar so I am presenting the Cover Crops Webinar Q/A that the three of us participated in.

A sampling of the questions are: 

  • How do the brassicas compare to small grains in terms of nitrate recovery?
  • What risks are there to soil moisture management with cover crops? If the spring is dry, can cover crops make the following crop’s emergence worse? If the spring is wet, are there risks to getting equipment in the field to kill the cover crop?
  • Do the cover crop radishes release the N they take up during the following crop year? If so, how much? Your slide showed 250 pounds of N being taken up per acre into the radish – is this all released the following cropping season?
  • …and 31 more!

It may help to watch the webinar first, but even if you can’t do that, the sound agronomic advice should be very helpful.

Now Archived and available: Cover Crop Webinar: Securing Unused Nitrogen in a Drought Year

There are thousands of acres across the Midwest that have been hurt by the drought in 2012. There is also a significant amount of Nitrogen left in the soil after such a dry year. Cover crops can help sequester N and during the Webinar we will discuss how much N you might expect to secure.

The drought of 2012 has forced many Midwest growers to make the difficult decision to give up on the crop and prepare the land for next year. The consequence? Significant amounts of unused nitrogen remain in the soil.

Planting a cover crop makes it possible to secure nitrogen in the field, reduce runoff, and recycle some nitrogen for use next season.

The presenters of this webinar include:

  • Tom Kaspar – Plant Physiologist, USDA-ARS, National Laboratory for Agriculture and the Environment out of Ames, Iowa.
  • John Meisinger – Soil Scientist, Environmental Management and Byproduct Utilization Laboratory, USDA-ARS out of Beltsville, MD.
  • Dave Robison – Forage and Cover Crop Agronomist with Legacy Seeds.

If you’ve experienced drought on your farm this year, please consider viewing this informative webinar.

The archived webinar is available at http://www.croplife.com/register-video?forward=video/c:56/webinars/1304/