Unlike a lot of other growers who are using cover crops, Wisconsin no-tiller Tony Peirick does not have a crazy 15-species cover crop mix. Instead, he has seen great results from keeping it simple with basically just one species: cereal rye. He says multi-species work really well for growers who are able to plant them early enough, but for him the single species works well.

“We usually use 30 pounds of cereal rye per acre for a cover and it works out great,” Peirick says. “It gets a good cover on there and then it's enough to keep your biology fed over the winter. You want some living roots out there all the time and then you do some spraying and just burning down and it's ready to plant.

“I've been planting covers for a while and the weed suppression has been just phenomenal. When I think about waterhemp and the damage that could be done, there's no way that those cover crops are not going to pay for themselves. You will see all kinds of little benefits here and there, and again, it depends on what you use for covers. I know if you go into the bigger multi-species, if you get them in earlier in the year, the benefits of the fertilizer and the plants too are there at a higher cost, but just putting down about 30 pounds through the rye in the fall seems to be inexpensive and gives you a lot of benefits.”

Peirick also notes that when harvest season rolls around, cover crops are still showing their benefits as the ground becomes easier to work with because the structure of the soil is stronger and there is less of a risk of getting your combine or other equipment stuck.

To learn more about Peirick’s farm and his optimism despite unfavorable growing conditions, read Mackane Vogel’s article “No-Till & Cover Crops Shine During Dry Growing Season” featured in the August 2026 issue of No-Till Farmer.