Every grower wants to know how to make cover crops pay off on their farm but there can be myriad challenges, including climate. One approach is interseeding covers into standing corn to increase the amount of growing time and benefits rendered by covers to farm operations. Ag conservation consultant Dan Towery and Cover Crop Coach Steve Groff will talk about how to get started, equipment choices, the best time for interseeding, what cover crop species work best and issues with residual herbicides to be aware of.

The temptation with some growers starting out with cover crops might be to start reducing nutrient application rates right away in anticipation of a bump in nitrogen fixation and improved nutrient availability. But nutrient management with cover crops can be tricky and there are some precautionary measures to follow to ensure your cash crops don’t suffer.

A long-term experiment by the University of Wyoming near Lingle is studying if dryland wheat farmers can become organically certified through use of compost and cover crops to improve soil health.

When grown for grazing, haying or annual forages, cover crops can improve cattle performance while providing soil stabilization. But not all plants that work well as cover crops are suitable for forage or grazing and some can even be toxic or fatal to livestock, says Kansas State University Extension.

There are many pieces to the soil health puzzle. According to some of the livestock producers on the panel at the Soil Health U event, Jan. 24, in Salina, Kan., cattle play an integral role in their success.

Cover crops have the potential to do many things for no-tillers, one of the most important being improved nutrient cycling in no-tilled soils that can lead to input savings and a healthier bottom line. But many no-tillers are spending $25-$30 an acre on covers and still spending too much on fertilizer due to poor nutrient management, says David Brandt.