Cover crops - Articles

[Video] Choosing Cover Crops

April 20, 2020 | Posted in Seeding Practices

In this video, Dean Baas, Michigan State University Extension Sustainable Agriculture Educator, discusses why plants go through the same lifecycle, regardless of planting date; examples of summer annual cover crops; which cover crop species grow large amounts of biomass; and more.

Harvest Cover Crops as Hay or Straw

April 20, 2020 | Posted in Soil Health

Source: Akron Beacon Journal

With the shortage and increasing price of quality hay and an increase in straw prices as well, spring of 2020 may be a season to harvest our winter cereal crops as either hay or straw, depending on your needs. Recent auction reports have hay averaging over $200/T (up to $350 in one report) and straw averaging $150/T. Read more in this article from the Akron Beacon Journal.

The Optimum Cover Crop Mixture Ahead of Soybeans

April 17, 2020 | Posted in Seeding Practices

Soybean producers that didn’t manage to get a cover crop in the ground last fall still have time to cash in on the benefits of a cover crop ahead of spring planting. There are many reasons to invest in a cover crop ahead of soybeans.

[Podcast] Using Cover Crops to Repair Ruts, Damaged Soils

In this week’s podcast, Pennsylvania cover crop expert Steve Groff explains how growers can use cover crops, no-till and improving soil health to overcome extreme wet conditions at harvest time. (Courtesy of Cover Crop Innovators)

April 15, 2020 | Posted in Soil Health

In this week’s podcast, Pennsylvania cover crop expert Steve Groff explains how growers can use cover crops, no-till and improving soil health to overcome extreme wet conditions at harvest time. (Courtesy of Cover Crop Innovators)

Carbonomics: Opening a Carbon Currency Exchange Within a Cover Crop Ecosystem

Crop diversity and biological activity in a cover-cropped farming system ensures healthy interactions between plants, roots and soil organisms, says Keith Berns.

By Mark McNeely posted on April 15, 2020 | Posted in Soil Health

Likening a healthy, robust industrial economy to the types of biological activities taking place underground in a no-till, cover-cropped farming system isn’t a stretch of the imagination.

Using Cover Crops to Repair Ruts, Damaged Soils

April 15, 2020 | Posted in Seeding Practices, Soil Health

Fall 2019 was extremely wet during harvest, leaving many fields with ruts. In this week’s podcast, Pennsylvania cover crop expert Steve Groff explains how growers can use cover crops, no-till and improving soil health to overcome extreme wet conditions at harvest time.

Cover Crops Help Soil Be Ready for Spring Planting

By Sarah Hill posted on April 14, 2020

In many parts of the Midwest, spring is almost here. Some growers may be dealing with spring snowstorms, which will further push back planting season, but planting is on many farmers’ minds.

Cover Crops Can Be the Answer

April 13, 2020 | Posted in Grazing

Source: Tri-State Livestock News

Producers select a crop based on various components unique to their own operation. While each cover crop can offer a multitude of benefits, Miranda Meehan, extension livestock environmental stewardship specialist at North Dakota State University, urges ranchers to look at the big picture. Read more in this article from Tri-State Livestock News.

Today’s Recap: Craig Stehly, No-Tiller, Mitchell, SD

By Sarah Hill posted on April 10, 2020 | Posted in Economics

Craig Stehly is a no-tiller who farms 12,000 acres of corn, soybeans, winter wheat and a variety of cover crops around Mitchell, S.D., with his brother, Gene. I caught up with Craig the afternoon of Wednesday, April 8.

[Video] Sorghum for Cover Crops & Forage

April 6, 2020 | Posted in Grazing

Kim Cassida, Forages & Grazing Educator with Michigan State University Extension, discusses the three ways to use cover crops as forage, why sorghum works particularly well as a forage and cover crop, which species have the most dry matter yields as a forage crop, and more.