I was recently in a field of ryegrass cover crop that we had looked at earlier and there is still a lot of ryegrass in the field. That sounds good, right? It’s unfortunate that it was volunteer annual ryegrass. This producer had not followed the proper steps to killing his annual ryegrass. We need to […]
Cover Crop Annual Ryegrass – Kill it dead! Read More »
As I take phone calls and conduct meetings I ask producers if they want to have the cover crop they are choosing to overwinter or die during the winter. I’d guess that the answer as split 50/50. The biggest reason for wanting the cover crop to die is that producers don’t want to have “to
What if a cover crop dies over the winter…was it still valuable? Read More »
The video below shows the value of Crimson Clover in a cover crop setting. Crimson clover has been tested and shown to produce as much as 140#/N after it has been planted after wheat. The plots in this video were planted around July 29, 2010 by the Jasper and Newton County SWCD folks (Thanks Dan
Big Radish fed by Crimson Clover Read More »
I was in western Pulaski County of Indiana again yesterday afternoon (11/16/2010) at the Leman farm. This is the third year that the Leman’s have used cover crops. Curt Leman dug some pits for us so we could see what kind of rooting depth we have achieved since the annual ryegrass was planted on Sept
Annual Ryegrass Roots Video – 40″ deep in 2 1/2 months! Read More »
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 »
Today, August 3, 2010 I visited some fields in Whitley County Indiana to look at fields where annual ryegrass was not killed quite perfectly this spring. Even though the soybeans look awesome there is a problem lurking under the bean canopy. That problem is a fairly thick stand of annual ryegrass. I found ryegrass in
Is Annual Ryegrass a weed – part 2 Read More »
I was visiting with a weed scientist from Purdue yesterday. He is an excellent scientist and gifted at weed ID as well. I asked him to work on a project and as he and I were discussing that he made a comment that I know needs to be ruminated upon. He asked me if I
Is annual ryegrass a weed? Read More »
Annual Ryegrass is one of the more popular and also one of the more vilified of the cover crops. Those that love it cite the deep fibrous roots and excellent soil tilth improvement. Those that loathe it cite that it does not always survive the winter…or that they can’t kill it if it does! Thankfully
Annual Ryegrass…leading the new frontier of cover crops Read More »