Laura Barrera

Grazing

Covering the Soil, Feeding the Livestock

While a minority of livestock owners feed their animals their cover crops, those that do see no ill effects & most see a financial value in grazing them

By Laura Barrera posted on September 29, 2025 | Posted in Grazing

Roughly 34% of livestock owners grazed their cover crops, 30.6% harvested covers for livestock and 16.2% used covers for silage.

Seeding & Termination

Cover Crop Seeding & Termination Trends

More growers waited to seed cover crops after harvest, those seeding with a drone doubled, & a record number planted green

By Laura Barrera posted on September 29, 2025 | Posted in Seeding Practices

In studying the seeding and termination trends of the sixth annual Cover Crops Operational Benchmark Study, it appears that practices remained consistent, and largely, continued to grow in numbers.

Planting Green

Cover Cropped Acres Grew, Record Percentage of Growers Planted Green

Other key findings from the annual Cover Crops Operational Benchmark Study include more drone seeding, reduced spending on seed & glyphosate remaining the No. 1 termination choice

By Laura Barrera posted on September 27, 2025 | Posted in Investing in Regenerative Ag, Soil Health

Based on those who shared the number of acres they seeded to cover crops, the total across all survey participants was 267,003 acres, making the average number seeded per farm 694 — a new record from the 504 average we saw in 2023.

Killer Tips for Rolling Your Covers

Thorough cover crop termination with this equipment requires using the right plant varieties and carrying out operations at the right time.

By Laura Barrera posted on August 3, 2022 | Posted in Termination

“When conditions are right, rolling cover crops and not using herbicides can work about one out of five times,” says Holtwood, Pa., no-tiller Steve Groff, who’s been rolling and crimping covers since 1995. “One out of five times it’ll be a disaster, and three out of five it’ll be in the middle. That’s the realistic expectation.”

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 themselves offer tips on improving cover-crop seeding with no-till drills.

By Laura Barrera posted on June 15, 2022 | Posted in Seeding Practices

From airplanes and helicopters to highboy seeders, spreaders and planters, there are plenty of options for seeding cover crops. But many no-tillers prefer to use the tried-and-true no-till drills to seed covers.

Boosting Soil Function by Adding Cover Crops in a Strip-Till System

Mike Verdonck has learned that by adding wheat and interseeding to his strip-till system, he can improve his soil while still providing an ideal seedbed for corn.

By Laura Barrera posted on April 21, 2022 | Posted in Soil Health

Mike Verdonck thought that after a decade of no-tilling and strip-tilling, his cropland had good soil structure. That was until he saw the structure of the soil in his fence rows.

Rolling Covers, Planting Non-GMOs ‘Green’ Leads to Efficient, Thriving No-Till System

By relying on good farm data to improve their operation, Rick Clark and family are capitalizing on the non-GMO crop market while cutting costs, building soil health and stabilizing yields.

By Laura Barrera posted on May 5, 2020 | Posted in Seeding Practices, Soil Health

Yield doesn’t drive Rick Clark’s no-till system. Instead, the fifth generation no-tiller intensely focuses on building soil health as the driver of his family’s 7,000-acre operation near Williamsport, Ind.

How to Get Effective Cover Crop Termination with Roller-Crimping

Roller-crimping is a simple task, but thorough cover crop termination with this equipment requires using the right plant varieties and carrying out operations at the right time.

By Laura Barrera posted on March 2, 2020 | Posted in Soil Health, Termination

When it comes to terminating cover crops, many growers rely on herbicides to get the job done.

Curbing Nitrogen Runoff in the Chesapeake Bay with Data, Precise Placement

With over 10,000 acres of cover crops, Trey Hill explains how he’s updated his equipment for better fertilizer placement, while data from Encirca helps him decide on nitrogen amounts.

By Laura Barrera posted on March 29, 2019 | Posted in Seeding Practices, Soil Health

In an effort to curb nutrient pollution in the Chesapeake Bay, Maryland farmers have been met with strict regulations on when, how and how much fertilizer they can apply to their fields.

How Embracing Soil Biology Leads to Better No-Till Profitability

Ray Archuleta explains why soil biology is so important to crop production and how utilizing soil life more aggressively can boost no-till performance.

By Laura Barrera posted on December 28, 2018 | Posted in Soil Health

Ray Archuleta has more hope for the soils affected by the 1985 Chernobyl nuclear power-plant explosion than he does for most agricultural fields in the U.S.