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Sep 11 2013

Advancing Cover Crop Adoptions Research Agenda

Advancing Cover Crop Adoptions Research Agenda

IMG_3507
Will corn planted after cover crops consistently out-yield corn planted without cover crops? Research has shown some nice advantage in areas. More research should give farmers more confidence in cover cropping.

Sarah Carlson, Midwest Cover Crop Research Coordinator with  Practical Farmers of Iowa and Ryan Stockwell, Agriculture Program
Manager with the National Wildlife Federation have written an agenda that will help researching cover crops be more scientific over the next six to eight years.   The research agenda is published in the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development
ISSN: 2152-0801 online www.agdevjournal.com

Here is the abstract of this aggressive agenda:

Copyright © 2013 by New Leaf Associates, Inc.
Abstract
Given certain ecologic and agronomic characteristics of conventional corn and soybean monocultures, cropping systems reliant solely on these two commodities inevitably lose soil and nutrients.  Leaky cropping systems not only hamper society with negative externalities, but also erode the very natural resources needed to produce food and sustain civilization. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), state agriculture department staff, farmer organizations, agribusiness leaders, and conservation and environmental organizations now see cover crops as a solution to reduce the negative externalities of conventional row-crop agriculture. Farmers are asking for increased agronomic and economic research to help them understand the benefits of and implement the use of cover crops. Researchers for the most part are not keeping up with farmers’ innovations on cover crops nor on providing the information sought by farmers. This article outlines the questions farmers are asking about cover crops and provides suggestions to agronomists, soil scientists, and researchers on research topics to best answer those questions. Additionally, social scientists must initiate a new round of research to understand the underlying concerns farmers have with cover crops and help to define the information (both content and source) that best informs and influences farmers. This article outlines specific issues and questions social scientists can research to contribute to the advancement of more sustainable farming practices and, in particular, cover crops.

Keywords
adoption, climate change, cover crops, diversity, externalities, innovation, natural resources, nutrient loss, resilience

You can find the complete paper here.

 

Written by Dave Robison · Categorized: Cover Crop Benefits, Cover Crop Research, Cover Crops - Return on Investment, Education · Tagged: Build soil health, corn, cover crop research, cover crops, National Wildlife Federation, nutrient management, Practical farmers of Iowa, soybeans

Aug 27 2013

Cover Crop Field Day Set in Blooming Prairie, MN

PileDriver at Hagan Farms 2 33 days
This Radish was planted in late July 2013 and after 33 days has tremendous growth. This mix included oats and crimson clover and radishes.

Cover Crops will be the main topic of discussion on September 4, 2013 at a cover crop field day and meeting in Blooming Prairie, MN. I have the privilege of speaking at this event as we look at cover crops on prevented plant acres.  We will also look at what cover crops work best in the upper Midwest.  We will be on Brad Hagan’s family farm and possibly look at Dale Ramsey’s farm too.  Please note that we will be looking in root pits (where the action really is)!

I received this note from Legacy Seeds representative Andrew Heath about the field day/meeting:

“We  plan on structuring the event much like an open house with designated times where you will be able to address the crowd. We will start the event at 10 am and have you speak from 11 to 11:45 and again at 1 to 1:45. There will also be transportation to the cover crop plot and some of the field that you, TJ, Brad and I visited earlier with root pits dug. This will happen from 12 to 1 and 2 to 3.”

I have seen the plots and have added photos here on this post to entice you to come if you are in the region.

As a side note, Hagan farms will be no-tilling corn into these fields in 2014.  We’ll follow-up on these fields next spring and see how these fields compare to others that did not have a cover on them.

This prevent plant field had plenty of nitrogen from manure to capture.  Hagan farms used a hybrid brassica and spring barley to secure the nitrogen and Berseem clover to produce more N and provide better soil health.
This prevent plant field had plenty of nitrogen from manure to capture. Hagan farms used a hybrid brassica and spring barley to secure the nitrogen and Berseem clover to produce more N and provide better soil health.

Written by Dave Robison · Categorized: Cover Crop Benefits, Cover Crop Meetings, Cover Crops in Minnesota, Cover Crops in the Northland, Manure management, Prevented planting · Tagged: building soil health, corn, cover crop field day, Cover Crop meeting, cover crop plots, cover crop radishes, cover crops, Cover Crops in the upper Midwest, manure managenet, no-till, prevent plant, prevented planting, Radishes, soil health

Jul 08 2013

Results of Farmer Cover Crop Survey Conducted by SARE and CTIC

Folks,
If you want to see how cover crops provide a very good ROI across a wide geographic region then this report is for you!  Thanks to Rob Meyers from SARE and the folks at CTIC for conducting and publishing this survey.  It helps me to see that the results on our home farm (and many of your farms too) were duplicated over a broad area.

Cover crops REALLY help with yield :)
Cover crops REALLY help with increasing yield 🙂            (BTW, we are NOT really standing up.)
Here is Rob’s e-mail.  Check out the link to see the whole report.
We are releasing today the results of a farmer survey on cover crops that was conducted by SARE and the Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC) this past winter.  A majority of the surveys were completed by farmers attending Midwest conferences this past winter but we also had some respondents to the online version of the survey from across the U.S.  The survey analysis and report development was completed by CTIC under a contract from North Central Region SARE.  Questions on the survey were developed with the input of MCCC steering committee members.  The report is available online at:  http://www.northcentralsare.org/CoverCropsSurvey
Key findings included the following:
  • During the fall of 2012, corn planted after cover crops had a 9.6% increase in yield compared to side-by-side fields with no cover crops.  Likewise, soybean yields were improved 11.6% following cover crops.
  • In the hardest hit drought areas of the Corn Belt, yield differences were even larger, with an 11.0% yield increase for corn and a 14.3% increase for soybeans.
  • Surveyed farmers are rapidly increasing acreage of cover crops used, with an average of 303 acres of cover crops per farm planted in 2012 and farmers intending to plant an average of 421 acres of cover crops in 2013.  Total acreage of cover crops among farmers surveyed increased 350% from 2008 to 2012.
  • Farmers identified improved soil health as a key overall benefit from cover crops.  Reduction in soil compaction, improved nutrient management, and reduced soil erosion were other key benefits cited for cover crops.  As one of the surveyed farmers commented, “Cover crops are just part of a systems approach that builds a healthy soil, higher yields, and cleaner water.”
  • Farmers are willing to pay an average (median) amount of $25 per acre for cover crop seed and an additional $15 per acre for establishment costs (either for their own cost of planting or to hire a contractor to do the seeding of the cover crop).
Please help us distribute this information to your colleagues and farmers in your region.
Rob Myers, Ph.D.
Regional Director – Extension Programs
North Central Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE)
University of Missouri
238 Ag Engineering Bldg.
Columbia, MO 65211-5200
Phone 573-882-1547
Email myersrob@missouri.edu
Web http://www.northcentralsare.org/

Written by Dave Robison · Categorized: Cover Crop Benefits, Cover Crop Research, Cover Crops - Return on Investment, Higher Yields, Soil Improvement · Tagged: corn, cover crops, Cover Crops enhance profitability, cover crops improve profitability, cover crops increase yields, soybeans

Mar 21 2013

Cover Crops are Working in Iowa

Cover crops are working in Iowa!

While that may not mean much to my eastern corn belt friends it means a lot in Iowa and the upper Midwest.

Working with Sarah Carlson from Practical Farmers of Iowa and Tom Kaspar from ARS at Ames, Iowa, we’ve been attempting to identify what cover crops will be most compatible with common Iowa farming practices – in particular the use of longer season corn hybrids and soybean varieties, as well as an abundance of corn after corn (CAC) management strategies. Establishing cover crops like radishes and annual ryegrass into these situations hasn’t proved to be easy.

Aerial application of cover crops (annual ryegrass, crimson clover, radishes, etc.) into corn in Ohio and Indiana has been very successful. However, in Iowa it has not worked with quite as much success.  Cereal rye may actually be the best alternative. While it may seem a bit “simple” to plant mainly cereal rye most years, there are significant benefits to using cover crop rye in a corn after corn scenario, mainly because it has been shown to reduce Goss’s wilt.

September 5, 2011 planted Annual Ryegrass compared to Winter Cereal Rye in central Iowa in April 2012.  Note the dramatic difference in winterhardiness.
September 5, 2011 planted Annual Ryegrass compared to Winter Cereal Rye in central Iowa in April 2012. Note the dramatic difference in winterhardiness even after a very mild winter.

Sarah commented that besides using more winterhardy species for greater success, it is also very important to not interseed the cover crops into green corn or green soybeans.  She says, “Pushing radishes with aerial seeding into a dense, dark corn or soybean canopy is unsuccessful.”

But if the right cover crop is used in Iowa and managed well then covers work very well!  Rod Swoboda from Wallaces Farmer published an article written by Sarah Carlson reflecting work that was overseen in Iowa by PFI.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Written by Dave Robison · Categorized: Aerial Application into Soybeans, Cover Crop Benefits, Cover Crop Research, Cover Crops in Iowa · Tagged: Annual Ryegrass, corn, cover crops, farmprogress publications, Goss's Wilt, Improving yields, Iowa Agriculture, Iowa State University, no-till, Practical farmers of Iowa, Soybeans after cereal rye, Tom Kaspar, Wallaces Farmer, Winter Cereal Rye, winterhardy cover crops

Oct 26 2012

Is it Ever Too Early to Plant Cover Crops?

Is it ever too early plant cover crops?  YES.

As many of you have figured out, I sell seed for a living.  I also have been a farmer or involved on the farm since I was a little boy.

But first and foremost I am an agronomist.

The temptation of a seed salesman is to recommend planting a cover crop either too early or too late – and then somehow justify it. However, as an agronomist and a former farmer, I simply cannot do that. I also want to be able to look at myself in the mirror without guilt.

Cover crops have to work for the farmer, not the seed salesman.  There are several fantastic seedsmen out there and I do not want to disparage that fine profession.  I feed my family by being a seedsman and marketing seed. Most seedsmen are a trusted source of information and quality seed.

Questions I Get A Lot

The planting date question comes up a lot. For example:

  • How soon can a farmer plant cover crops after wheat has been harvested?
  • Can a farmer plant clovers into corn at “the last cultivation?” (even though only a few farmers still cultivate).
  • When is it too early to plant radishes?
  • When is it too late to plant radishes?

Money has not always been good in agriculture and I doubt that this current boom will last forever (it never did before).  So I want to give answers based on sound agronomic practices that will work 90% of the time.

Question: Can you plant crimson clover at “lay-by”?

Yes you can.  My granddad did that practice back in the 1950’s.  Of course he planted in 38″ rows with 16-18,000 plants per acre.  He did not use herbicides but he did cultivate.

However, how many of us farm like my granddad did?  A few of you might –  with good reason to do so (specialty corn or organic production).  But, can it work with modern herbicides and plant populations pushing 35,000 plants per acre?  Maybe, but not consistently – and probably not.

I think I tried to say “no” but I’m aware that some farmers have done it.  But, can we do a practice if it is not going to work 90+% of the time?  Not on a large scale.  Can we afford to try it on a few acres?  Maybe.

Here is a northeast Indiana farmer’s testimony of his success spreading crimson clover into his growing corn at sidedress time.  I am sharing this exactly as it was sent to me – trusting that it is accurate. I do not know the farmer who submitted the testimony.

I broadcast 10 lbs/acre of crimson clover at sidedress time this year. I seeded it on 6/6. We got essentially no rain from the first week of May until the last week of July. I figured the clover wouldn’t grow, but it laid there until we got rain and by harvest we had a nice stand. I’m not sure how this would work in a ‘normal’ year, but it sure worked good this year. I left some check strips and the clover didn’t affect the yield.   The seeder was just an old 12V spinner seeder I clamped onto our N toolbar. I’m attaching pictures of it and the clover stand. 

Photos provided are below.

My Observations

My guess is that this farmer used only glyphosate and no residual herbicide.  It was also terribly dry this summer and this seeding would have been more like a “dormant seeding”.

This was not at all typical for an Indiana summer. It was the driest July on record and June and August were also very dry.  Note how short the corn is in the photo with the corn head.  There was a lot of corn 3-5′ tall this year in Indiana.  I’d guess that a 5 foot height would cover the corn height in this field.  If the crimson would have been planted in a “normal” year I would be surprised if he would have had success like this.  But, boy, it sure is a beautiful stand in these photos!

If you try this practice, just experiment with a few acres to see what works on your farm.

Seeding Crimson Clover at “lay-by” in June in NW Indiana.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Note how short the corn is in the photo. Contrary to the belief of Illinois and Iowa farmers, this is not typical for NW Indiana corn! Most likely the rains that came in August were adequate to germinate the clover and there was plenty of sunlight getting to the ground so the seedlings had heat, moisture, and sunlight. What a beautiful cover crop!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a beautiful stand of crimson clover between rows of harvested corn! Unfortunately the lack of corn fodder shows that the corn was under severe stress in 2012. While achieving a nice cover crop is important, I would prefer 200+ bushels/acre corn and a less advanced stand of clover at harvest time.

Question: Can you plant radishes right after wheat harvest?

No.

Even if you use an excellent radish,  it will bolt.  I don’t care which radish you use – it WILL BOLT if you plant it too early in the summer.

Bolting means that it will try to produce seed.  Generally a radish that bolts has a smaller and shorter tuber and most of the plant energy goes to seed production instead of root tuber production. If you wait until early August and use the proper radish you will see very little if any bolting.

I have been in several fields this fall that had no plants bolted.  I have also seen many fields that had a high percentage of plants that bolted.  Some claim that the exceptionally high soil temperatures in the summer of 2012 caused the August planted radishes to bolt.  That may be the case.  One thing I know for certain, if a radish is planted in July, it almost always bolts and can produce viable seed in the fall – and that could create potential problem for years to come.

Dave’s Best Advice

Wait until August to plant your cover crop radishes.  Use the few weeks between wheat harvest and planting cover crops to clean up weeds that were in the wheat field and also control volunteer wheat.  Patience is a great virtue.  It is important that you see an excellent return on your investments that we make in cover crop seed and seeding cost.  Our goal should not be “to be done first” but rather to have the best cover crop and healthiest soil.

I hate seeing fields like this as I know there was potential for seed to be produced and dropped to the soil possibly creating some issues in future years. Was this field planted too early or was the wrong radish planted? I do not know but I do know that farmers should chose wisely on planting time and what radish to plant.  Thankfully not every plant bolted so there are still plenty of plants “doing the radish thing” in the soil very well.

Written by Dave Robison · Categorized: Cover Crop Benefits, Cover Crop Challenges, Cover Crop Research, Education, Timing of Planting · Tagged: corn, Cover Crop Benefits, cover crop radishes, cover crops, Crimson Clover, drought 2012, planting date for cover crops, problems with cover crops

Oct 11 2012

Cover Crops Increase Iowa Corn Yields

Cover crops are helping to increase yields in Iowa corn fields.  My friend Sarah Carlson from Practical Farmers of Iowa sent me the following testimonial from Eric Franzenburg from east central Iowa (about 1.5 hours east of Ames).

Eric Franzenburg has seen increased corn yields of 20-40 bushels per acre the past 3-4 years after using cover crops!

Thanks to Sarah and Eric for making this testimonial public.  I know that there are many other farmers that have seen similar results.  If you have and would like to share with the readers of plantcovercrops.com I’d greatly appreciate it!

Eric’s testimony:

I believe that the researcher from the article is on to something in regard to relieving drought stress (research I proposed on this blog).

I went out to do some yield checks on our conventional corn fields about a week ago to get an idea where we were.  One of the fields was seeded with fall rye earlier in the fall (September 1, 2011), followed by 3,000 gallons/A of hog manure (later in the fall). This spring we killed the rye with Roundup when the rye was over knee high, waited over 2 weeks to plant, tilled one pass with tandem disk-harrow, and planted later in May. It was the last field I planted.

I followed with a sidedress of 70 lbs at V6. This field will out-yield all other fields by 40 bpa.  The plant health is excellent, and I was telling Sarah that if you start poking around looking for rye residue it is virtually gone (not sure if this is good or bad).

We have been doing this same program for 4 years now and I am no longer worried about planting corn the third week of May under these conditions, especially after this year; this has been a very telling growing season. We are coming up with the same results 3 of the 4 years (yields 20-40 bu. higher).

I have been wondering what the mechanisms in the soil are that have given us these results.  While the scenario that the researcher has proposed sounds good, it does not sound like much work has been done to prove this out.

Written by Dave Robison · Categorized: Cover Crop Benefits, Higher Yields, Manure management · Tagged: best management practice, corn, cover crops, cover crops in Iowa, hog manure, increasing yields, nutrient management

Feb 03 2012

Planting into “Out of Control” Peas – The Rest of the Story

In September 2011 I posted about an Ohio farmer that planted into “out of control” peas and shared about his story of how the field was looking pre-harvest.  I have recently visited with Dave (the producer) and he shared the information that a number of you asked for…and also surprising yield data. Dave farms with his father-in-law Ron in Mercer County, Ohio near Rockford (NW Ohio).

Sometimes it takes courage to farm with cover crops! Dave and his father-in-law Ron planted with confidence as the ground was "very mellow" compared to other ground without a cover crop.

Here are Dave’s observations and the 2010-2011 field history:

  • Hog Manure applied late summer of 2010 – 5000 gal/ac
  • No other fall fertilizer
  • N-Vest Groundbreaker Mix (Austrian Winter Peas and GroundHog Radish) planted Labor Day weekend 2010

Peas that survived – and other weeds, wheat, clover, etc. – were sprayed (after a wet, wet spring) on June 2, 2011.

________________________________________________

Herbicide/Insecticide Mix: (rates per acre)
20 gal Water
Alliance – .2 gal   (1 gal/100 gal water)
Roundup WeatherMax – 44oz
Weedone 650 – 1pt
PowerLock Surfactant – 6oz
Baythroid (insecticide) – 2oz

Corn was planted on June 3, 2011.

Additional Fertilizer applied (in addition to nutrients from manure and N from peas)

20 gal/ac 10-34-0 starter fertilizer with 1qt/ac zinc

40 gal/ac 28-0-0 side dress with Agrotain N stabilizer

Results

Even though several acres in the area were too wet to plant this field of peas was in great shape as you can see the row closed "perfectly" behind the planter.

Weigh wagon test showed 215 bu dry yield.  Dave guesses the whole field average was between 200-215 dry (he has no scales at home to check weight of entire crop).
Dave also thinks that the yield was 10-15 bu better that most of their other corn (w/o manure and w/o cover crops).

The seed placement of this no-till planting into the peas was "near-perfect".

All things considered…the wettest spring in Eastern Corn Belt History, late planting date, planting into 3+ foot tall peas, < 1″ of rain in the month of July (with 22 days 90 degrees or more), a wet fall that delayed harvest..and the result was over  200 bushels/acre.  I’d take that everyday for that part of Ohio, and so will Dave and his father-in-law Ron.

The roots on the peas were massive by early June. Don't expect this in most years but this certainly did not hinder planting, getting a good stand, or attaining a very high yield!

Other observations from Dave:

Positives:

Better soil structure

Deeper root penetration by corn roots

Great seedbed to plant into

Great soil cover after cover crop was killed

Better water retention thru the dry months

Nutrients saved from hog manure

Negatives:

Too much growth in wet spring

Took a lot of time to plant due to pea growth

 

Thanks Dave for sharing your story!

Written by Dave Robison · Categorized: Austrian Winter Peas, Cover Crop Challenges, Planting into Tall Austrian Winter Peas, Types of Cover Crops · Tagged: Austrian Winter Peas, corn, Cover Crop Radish, cover crops, Groundhog radish, high yields, manure management, nitrogen production, no-till, nutrient management, soil health, soil structure, Tillage Radish

Dec 30 2011

Cover Crops in the Great Plains – a view from a long time cover crop user- Part 1

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 more western feel to this blog since he has a different perspective on some of the cover crops that work well in the Great Plains that I typically don’t share.  I will be using Paul’s writings with his full permission.

In this post I will share Paul’s perspective on how and where cover crops fit in different systems.  Again, these are Paul’s views from his perspective, of which I find myself agreeing with.

Vegetables:  Using cover crops is vital for long term sustainable vegetable production.  Vegetables are fertility hogs. Intensive vegetable production will ruin soils no matter how much fertilizer you use. Fortunately the quick maturity and low residue of most vegetables allows many opportunities for the use of cover crops, more so than with field crops.

This is good and bad news. The variety of choices can overwhelm growers who want simple answers.  Use manure whenever possible in vegetable production to build organic matter especially when used with the cover crop grasses such as sorghum-sudan, grain rye, annual ryegrass, etc.

There are many opportunities for cover crops in both conventional and organic cropping, actually more so than in field crops.

Traditional field crop systems:  By this I mean the 1940-50’s ideal of animal husbandry and cash crops on the same farm supported by a varied rotation of row crops, small grains, and forage legumes (either alone or with grasses).  Cover crops are useful but not vital, as the rotation and manure application keeps the production system going.  Cover crops allow modifications to the rotation. Also annual warm and cold season grazed cover crops saves money and further diversifies the rotation.

Modern monoculture field crop systems: Corn and soybeans aren’t much of a rotation since they are both row crop summer annuals.  Cover crops are vital to long term sustainable field crop production since they essentially mimic the effects of a decent rotation as well as provide the agronomic benefits that you are well aware of.  Cover crops are easier to use if small grains are added to the rotation.

Grazing: Grazing warm season as well as cool season cover crops is a direct financial benefit of cover crops, as opposed to the recognized indirect financial benefits and adds diversity to the rotation.

 

A Note from Paul Conway about who he is and about his experiences:

I grew up mostly overseas and I have gardened all my life.  When I was a teenager I worked on farms in the summer.  I retired from the US Army in 1993 and started my market garden to grow vegetables commercially.  I have done this ever since except for 17 months in 2006-7 when I was recalled to active duty and sent to Iraq.

I have farmed organically since 1993. I was organically certified from 1994 until 2004 when I switched to Certified Naturally Grown, a certifier more friendly to small scale local market vegetable growers.  

I should say that organic farming does not work unless you pay almost fanatic attention to building and maintaining healthy soil. This means good crop rotations with a mix of row crops, small grains, and forages.  You must use manure (if available) and cover crops/green manures.  The degree of mix between the two is complex and farm dependent.  Simply switching to organically approved inputs without a good soil building rotation will not produce good yields.

Also, thanks to Paul for serving the USA in the armed services!

Written by Dave Robison · Categorized: Cover Crop Benefits · Tagged: corn, cover crops, Cover Crops in the Great Plains, fertilizer, grazing cover crops, manure management, manure management with cover crops, row crops, soybeans, sustainable agriculture, vegetables

Dec 30 2011

Cover Crop Stand Evaluation Taken to a New Level

This handy tool is a great way to tell producers about the agronomics of their crops.

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 Dave’s blog posts and had to send him an email after a recent one about aerial seeding success this fall.  We work with several great farmers that use cover crops as part of their no-till crop plan and noticed more than just a few beautiful stands this fall.  One of these stands I had the good fortune of mapping with a new tool in our business, called the Greenseeker NDVI sensor.  This tool allows us to quickly map the “green-ness,” for lack of a better word, of any plant material.

On Nov 18, 2011 I ran an ATV over this field of annual ryegrass that was flown into standing corn in central Indiana.  Our hope is that mapping of cover crops will help us predict the nitrogen release of various areas of the field so that we can adjust for future cash crops.   Of course we will map the actual crops too, but sometimes a map of an actively rooting cover crop might tell us more about the soil profile than a very young corn plant.  At least that is what we hope to compare next spring!

One of the most interesting things about this map is that the soils don’t necessarily match up exactly to the cover crop lushness. From driving it there were certainly areas that the airplane intentionally missed, like the far east side border…trying to keep it off the neighbor.  Then, I noticed only a couple areas that were accidentally missed… actually less than 1 acre in a whole 130 acre field like this.  Then, I could see how sometimes the low ground had a great stand because of thin corn stands due to spring ponding and more light (see Dave’s post on this topic).

And then there were hill tops with good stands because of what I would guess was earlier plant death because of summer drought (again, check out Dave’s post). I don’t know that this exactly correlates with nitrogen but I can tell you that early death or thinner stands would take up less nitrogen, so it might.

Either way this map gives us something else to help understand the crop responsiveness to additional nitrogen while a map of the actual crop would tell us more exactly.  It certainly is more variable than what appeared to be a beautiful and perfectly even stand from the road.

Keep sharing your experiences, Dave!

 

Daryl Starr, President

Advanced Ag Solutions

This map shows how well the cover crop was established when it was flown into standing corn in 2011. Daryl will also use it in 2012 to evaluate the cash crop when it is growing.

1405 Fairfax Drive

Lafayette, IN 47909

Toll Free: 888-512-4890

Mobile: 765-265-6767

Email: Daryl@AdvancedAgSolutions.com

www.AdvancedAgSolutions.com

 

Written by Dave Robison · Categorized: Aerial Application, Cover Crop Benefits · Tagged: aerial application of cover crops, Annual Ryegrass, corn, cover crop stand evaluation, cover crops, Greenseeker NDVI, soybeans

Nov 10 2011

Cover Crop Field Day Set at Robison Farms

CISCO Seeds, Robison Farms, and Dougherty Fertilizer are sponsoring a Cover Crop Field Day and Root Dig at the Greenwood, Indiana farm. If you’ve not had an opportunity to see cover crops in a real life farm setting, this will be a great meeting for you . There will be multiple species available to look at and expert agronomists on hand to answer questions.

 

When:

Wednesday, November 30, 2011 from 2-4 P.M.

Location:

Corner of Five Point Road (300 East) and Main Street (Rocklane Road) east of Greenwood, IN

Contact:

If you have questions or need further information contact  Don Robison at donrobison@ciscoseeds.com or 317-357-7013

  • Rain or shine we will have a gathering (call if the weather is bad for “plan B”)

 

Cover Crop Field Day Highlights

Come see ten different mixes and/or species of cover crops in a large plot setting.
  • 1100’ lineal feet of cover crop plots
  • 10 different mixes or straight species shown
  • guaranteed weather! (not saying what kind)
  • working with NRCS, SWCD, and Dougherty Fertilizer
  • root digs (weather contingent)
  • Cover Crop Agronomists on hand for tours and Q/A sessions
  • See over 150 acres of various Cover Crops withing 1/2 mile of plots

 

Purpose of the cover crop field day

To see different species of cover crops in a real to life situation. This was a soybean field that had the cover crops applied over the top of the standing crop at roughly 50% leaf drop.

 

Species You Will See

 

  • Radishes
  • Turnips
  • Crimson Clover
  • Oats
  • Winter Rye
  • Annual Ryegrass
  • Austrian Winter Peas
  • Several Mixes including the above species

 

 

 

Directions:

From Indianapolis

  • Take I-65 South to Exit 99. Turn Left at end of ramp and travel 1.5 miles east to the plots

From Louisville

  • Take I-65 North to Exit 99. Turn Right at end of ramp and travel 1.5 miles east to the plots

From Columbus, OH

  • Take I-70 West to Indianapolis, follow 465 South to I-65 South to Exit 99. Turn Left at end of ramp and travel 1.5 miles east to the plots

From Terre Haute

  • Take I-70 East to Indianapolis, follow 465 South to I-65 South to Exit 99. Turn Left at end of ramp and travel 1.5 miles east to the plots

 

Just down the road we plan on digging another pit where Annual Ryegrass and Appin Turnips were applied after hog manure was knifed in after wheat.

Written by Dave Robison · Categorized: Cover Crop Plots, Education, Field Days · Tagged: aerial application of cover crops, Annual Ryegrass, Austrian Winter Peas, cocktail mixes, compaction, corn, Cover Crop Benefits, cover crop mixes, cover crop plots, cover crop radishes, cover crop seeding rates, cover crops, Crimson Clover, earthworms, flying cover crops into corn, Groundhog radish, no-till, Oats, oats and radishes, oilseed radishes, Radishes, reducing compaction, scavenge nitrogen, seeding rates, soil compaction, soybeans, tillage, timing of planting cover crops, Wheat, Winter Cereal Rye, winter rye

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