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Cover Crops in the Great Plains

Dec 31 2011

Cover Crops in the Great Plains – a view from a long time cover crop user- Part 2

In this cover crop post I again quote Paul Conway from Kansas, who is giving his input on cover crops in the Great Plains. In this article, Paul shares his experience with Austrian winter peas, field peas, chickling vetch, and hairy vetch.

Dave,

Austrian Winter Peas: I have limited and disappointing experience with Austrian Winter Peas.  They always winter kill and they must be planted at an inconvenient time.  It seems that the areas where they do well do not follow a simple geographical line.  Austrian Winter Peas do very well about 60 miles south of me in central and southern Kansas.  Ironically, they seem to do fine in the Nebraska panhandle, which is much colder than we are. I think consistent snow cover makes the difference.

Field Peas: also know as Canadian field peas or forage peas. I’ve grown these in early fall with oats and forage radish. I don’t know how much nitrogen they fix but they do winterkill by early winter –  mine haven’t died yet – probably consistent lows in the middle teens will do it.

I also plant them in early spring the same time as oats, killing them for June planted cash crops.  Mowing after flowering will effectively kill peas.  Where peas shine is in mixes and in cool climates.

The pea/oat or pea/triticale is excellent for haylage or silage. These mixes have the same benefits for livestock farmers as the soybean/summer grass mixes.

In much of the Midwest and east, double cropping is possible, oat/peas followed by soybean/milo or sorghum-sudan.  Further north, the oat/pea mixes would mature too late.  In that regard, I think that field peas could be managed as a summer annual (like soybeans) in the Great Lakes states, upstate New York, Pennsylvania, and New England.

Peas can handle routine summer temperatures in the low-mid 80s. Peas can be grazed. Peas aren’t shade tolerant so they don’t do well when sown into row crops.  Frankly outside the mixes I think the clovers may be more versatile.

Chickling Vetch: Also known as “AC Greenfix.” It will fix nitrogen faster both in the fall (it winterkills about the same time as the peas) and in the spring.  AC Greenfix seed is more expensive and harder to plant due to it’s shape.

Hairy Vetch: As you know, hairy vetch is the strongest nitrogen fixer among the annuals.  Hairy vetch easily fits into vegetable rotations. I have seen two foot vine growth and numerous fat nodules on vetch in early-mid April after a mildly wet fall and an early spring.  It will be harder to fit into field crop rotations, especially corn-soybeans.

Here the optimum time to plant hairy vetch is September, but it can be planted as late as mid October.  It needs minimal soil contact which isn’t a problem in a normal fall. A dry September/October, like I had this year, is a problem.

I know that you have some experience with flying in hairy vetch into maturing corn or soybeans.  Another option is to plant it very late (mid-late November) and hope it doesn’t germinate until the soil warms up in late winter-early spring.   I don’t think people realize how versatile hairy vetch can be.  In the northern areas suited for field peas (see above) hairy vetch could be managed as a summer annual. [I have seen hairy vetch flower, drop seed which stays dormant during a hot dry summer – Dave’s EMPHASIS HERE – this is why I caution growers about Hairy Vetch.]  When the weather cools down in late August the vetch seed sprouts.  It is still warm then through September and early October with temperatures similiar to the Great Lakes states and New England in the summer.  So why couldn’t vetch be planted in early summer in these areas?

Years ago I planted hairy vetch in April between wide rows of vegetables just to see what would happen.  I remember lots of growth by July, despite a hot dry summer. The soil under the vetch was cool and moist.  The vetch did not grow enough to fix much nitrogen by May but it may have fixed enough nitrogen for mid-summer planted crops.

In 2012 I will plant hairy vetch and other vetches (purple) in the spring and record how they do.

Finally, new cultivars of hairy vetch come out which may have promise.  I will try a new variety called Purple Bounty, which is supposed to mature two weeks earlier but with less winter hardiness.

 

Written by Dave Robison · Categorized: Austrian Winter Peas, Cover Crop Benefits, Grazing Cover Crops, Hairy Vetch, Nitrogen from Cover Crops, Types of Cover Crops · Tagged: AC Greenfix, Austrian Winter Peas, Chickling Vetch, cover crops, Cover Crops in the Great Plains, establishing cover crops, field peas, Hairy Vetch, nitrogen production, nitrogen production from cover crops, vegetables

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

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