The folks in Cover Crops Strategies' Digital Media Department compiled all the most popular content from the past 12 months. Organized by category, here is the best of the best for 2022.

Top 3 Stories from Cover Crop Strategies

1. Scientists Identify Cover Crops That Keep Nitrogen in Soil

To keep nitrogen where it can do the most good, a team of ARS scientists began developing new techniques for cover crop breeders. Their goal was to help the breeders identify plants whose extended underground root systems (known as the rhizosphere) are most effective at keeping nitrogen in the soil.

2. Differences between Cereal Rye and Ryegrass for Cover Crops

There is some confusion when it comes to knowing the differences between annual ryegrass and cereal rye. Many confuse these crops because they share the word “rye” in their names. This article will help you understand the differences between the two crops.

3. Fine-Tune No-Till Drills for Better Cover Crop Seeding

Whether it’s getting cover crop mixes seeded properly or determining the right planting depth, equipment experts and no-tillers offer tips on improving cover crop seeding with no-till drills in this article.

Top 3 Staff Blogs

1. We Don’t Have Decades to Increase Cover Crop Adoption

Some states are doing better than others when it comes to cover crop adoption. Indiana farmers have set a new record for living cover crops planted, at 1.5 million acres, according to a recent conservation survey by the Indiana Conservation Partnership. In this blog, writer Sarah Hill analyzes the data and questions why more farmers aren’t adopting cover crops and other soil health practices.

2. There Can Be No Life Without Soil

In this blog, writer Julia Gerlach discusses drought conditions, evaluating soil health and organic matter damage and offers insight on how to prevent further erosion.

3. How to Get No-Tillers on Board for Carbon Contracts

Writer Todd Janzen summarizes the Agricultural Climate Market Collaborative’s 11 principles for companies developing carbon programs for farmers and shares some concluding thoughts on what happens next.

Top 3 Podcasts

1. Reducing Fertilizer Use with Cover Crops

This episode of the Cover Crops Strategies Podcast features strip-tiller and cover crop advocate Wayne Fredericks of Osage, Iowa. Fredericks discusses how he transitioned to using crops on 100% of his acres, his cover crop goals, how using covers has helped him reduce fertilizer use and more.

2. Making Dollars & Sense Out of Cover Crops

Jim Hoorman, of Hoorman Soil Health Services in Ohio, discusses the costs of tillage and soil compaction, cover crops, the dollar value of soil organic matter and much more on this podcast episode.

3. Grazing Beef Cattle on Cover Crops Provides Economic Returns

This edition of the Cover Crops Strategies podcast features Dan Shike, associate professor of animal science at University of Illinois. Shike discusses the benefits cover crop grazing can offer livestock producers, the planning needed to incorporate covers into a beef operation and how grazing cover crops affects soil health.

Most Shared Article from 2022

Dragline With Manure Assists Cover Crop Termination

Read this article to learn about how no-tillers from Perrysville, Ohio, utilize manure from their 650-cow dairy to maintain high-yielding double crops and feed for their herd.

Best of the Web 2022 Recap

1. Lower Seeding Rates Produce Same Results as Extra Seeds for Winter Legume Cover Crop

A recent study for specialty crop growers by the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station found that lower seeding rates for winter legume cover crops produced statistically similar cover crop biomass production for most legumes tested.

2. Can a Strain of Wheatgrass with an Odd Name Help Colorado Farmers Use Less Water?

Farmers and agricultural researchers across Colorado are testing the viability of a drought-tolerant perennial wheatgrass developed in Kansas called Kernza.

3. Intercropping and Interseeding: Researchers Look to Past for Answers to Present

In this article, researchers compare buckwheat, clovers and peas interseeded into an organic corn crop, as well as cover crops planted in both tilled and no-tilled conditions with standard, high and low seeding rates. The aim is to devise a system that improves soil-plant interactions, reduces inputs and improves crop productivity.

Click here for more Industry News.