Profitability is what all growers are aiming for, no matter the crop. However, profitability is a term that is relative when it comes to evaluating the effectiveness of using cover crops. Over time, covers are giving more in terms of profitability than can be quantified — through improved soil health, increased water holding capacity, organic matter, earthworm activity, more supportive bacteria in the soil, cooler soil temperatures, and more. How do you put a price tag on some of those intangible, but extremely beneficial, qualities?

The days are getting shorter and cooler, the leaves are starting to turn, the kids are going back to school — fall is definitely in the air. The changing of the seasons means wildlife will be on the move and storing up for winter. There are steps to take to prevent woodland creatures from adding cover crops to the menu and potentially damaging your soil-building investment, experts say.

If you’re struggling through the rest of this growing season, it’s probably hard to think about getting ready for next year. But if you want to get cover crops in your fields, now’s the time to start ordering.

We all know that one of the potential benefits of using cover crops is weed suppression, but do you know how cover crops actually provide weed suppression? There are a couple of ways: through blocking sunlight from reaching weed seeds, and also allelopathy, as the cover crop plants produce a chemical that reduces weed seed germination.

Earthworms — they are the unsung heroes and unpaid employees on your farm. According to Frank Gibbs, one of the featured speakers at the National Strip-Tillage Conference held earlier this month in Peoria, Ill., worms are always working to enrich your soil.

Cover crops and other regenerative agriculture practices have been getting a massive amount of attention lately. There have been stories about them in major news outlets like Forbes and the New York Times and politicians have been working these concepts into their speeches and climate platforms, spreading the word about the benefits of keeping the soil covered with diverse living plants.

Last week, I attended the Southern Cover Crops Conference in Alabama. Besides being my first trip to the Heart of Dixie, it was a truly enjoyable opportunity to learn about growing cotton and peanuts, how Southern farmers utilize cover crops to protect their soil and retain moisture, and the challenges that the agriculture industry faces in the region.

No one does anything in a vacuum. No matter what type of project you undertake, someone has to create the raw materials you have to work with — whether it’s loggers harvesting trees for lumber made into woodworking projects, cotton farmers harvesting bolls made into cloth, or a goldsmith melting down gold to make jewelry.

When it comes to superheroes in the agriculture industry, for the 2019 crop year, growers who plant cover crops are the true heroes.

No matter why you got into farming, profitability is still the end goal. Every farming practice undergone on your operation must be worth the return on investment. But what if we looked at cover crops in a different way — that covers themselves are the investment?