Why cover crops?

County < 1 *T 1-2*T > 2*T

Adams 85 12 3

Brown 75 17 8

Hancock 91 6 3

Henderson 91 7 2

McDonough 85 12 3

Pike 70 18 11

Schuyler 83 13 4

Erosion continues to be a serious issue in W Illinois and NE Missouri

http://www.agr.state.il.us/darts/References/transect/transect06.pdf

These fields need more

green!

T = tolerable level of erosion according to NRCS (traditional but controversial concept)

(#s = % of sample points)

How many extreme precipitation events has your farm

experienced in the last 3 years?

How much erosion occurred during these events on your farm?

Impact of the 2008 floods on IA soils

20 tons per acre average soil loss across 2,284,000 ac!

Conservation structures needing repair 12,157 Grassed Waterways

8,137 Terraces 3,375 Water and Sediment Control Basins

800 Grade Stabilization Structures

Fields with combinations of two or more conservation practices (e.g., no-till + cover crops) performed much

better than fields with a single practice

Farmers know that cover crops control erosion

CTIC survey of 809 Corn Belt farmers in 2010

Yield maps have made

drainage problems

more obvious

Farmers also know that improved drainage improves yields (and reduces erosion)

H2 O

More infiltration = less run-off = less erosion

Gulf of Mexico

Impact of Ag Drainage

…and more loss of some

nutrients and ag chemicals

Western IL contains a lot of soils that are naturally

prone to nitrate

leaching

REDUCTION POTENTIAL

combine summer annuals with winter annuals

Drainage practices should be combined with other practices that reduce leaching

Reduce N rate by 25 lbs/a

Bar

e fa

llow

Kaspar et al. J. Environ. Qual. 36:1503-1511

The science is clear - cover crops can reduce nitrate leaching at lower cost than most other practices!

What needs to be adjusted to find the best fit?

Where are the best places for cover crops on your farm?

When is the best time for establishment and termination?

Are you familiar with the term Precision Conservation?

Haphazard cover cropping

What am I supposed to do

now?

“What cover crop should I

plant ???”

Very common question received by CC seed vendors in early fall

Well… what do you want your cover

crop to do for you?

Cover crops are not the missing puzzle piece(s) in your current cropping systems!

Start planning today! • Anticipate planting windows

• Match objectives with species

• Confirm seed availability

• Make sure seeding equipment is ready

• Identify realistic termination methods

• Allocate labor

• Develop contingency plans

Crop planted

on May 15 and harvested on October 1

Opportunities for planting cover crops • Dormant seeding early or late winter

• Frost seeding • In the spring

• When planting summer crops • Prevent plant scenarios

• While sidedressing • After small grains • After vegetables

• After seed corn or silage corn • Aerial or high clearance seeding into standing crops in late

summer/early fall • After corn/bean grain harvest

Grazing brassicas, clovers, small grains, a. ryegrass, sorghum-sudan

Nutrient scavenging/cycling brassicas, small grains, annual ryegrass

Bio-drilling brassicas, sugarbeet, sunflower,

sorghum-sudan sweet clover, alfalfa

N-fixation clovers, vetches, lentil, winter pea, chickling vetch, sun hemp, cowpea, soybean

Bio-activation/fumigation brassicas, sorghum-sudan, sun hemp, sesame

Weed suppression brassicas, sorghum-sudan, cereal rye, buckwheat

GRAZING = #1 way to make cover crops pay!

Match CC objectives with species

Oats, turnips, annual ryegrass and wheat

Oats, turnips and cereal rye

Forage kale

Mystery brassica

OATS & PEAS Spring Planted/Summer grazing

Hu

nte

r

Have you used any forage brassicas as cover crops?

• Cover crops (winter or summer) can provide high-

quality forage and increase economic return and farm diversity, but some farmers have been reluctant to take this advantage due to perceived “compaction” caused

by animal trampling.

• Grazing of cover crops can compact soil, but not to the detrimental levels often perceived.

Franzluebbers AJ and JA Stuedemann. 2008. Soil physical responses to cattle grazing cover crops under

conventional and no tillage in the Southern Piedmont USA.

Soil and Tillage Research 100, 141-153.

Performance over Price • Buy CC seed on value not price

Vendor Cereal rye Annual

ryegrass Hairy vetch Medium red

clover WI 0.188 0.52 (0.69) 1.60 (1.98) 1.22 (1.62)

IL1 0.147 (0.179) 0.47 (0.63) 1.42 (1.65)

MN 0.153 (0.171) 0.50 (0.56) 1.70 (1.90) 1.66 (1.84)

NE1 0.157 (0.179) 0.55 (0.65) 2.10 (2.50) 1.65 (1.95)

IL2 (0.213) (0.75) (2.20) (2.60) IL3 0.188 (0.214) (0.70)

MO 0.197 0.46 1.47 1.21 IL4 (0.20) (0.60) (1.80) (1.75) IA (0.195) (0.62) (2.00) 2.00 IN (0.239) (0.75) (2.20)

(IL farmer) 0.125 0.48 1.05

Cover crop seed price survey from 2010 ($/lb)

The cheapest seed available is frequently VNS – variety not stated

Do you know the difference between “variety name” and “brand name”?

How important is uniform seed size and vigor to you?

How much is good

technical support worth to

you?

Reduce Risk • Enroll in programs that pay you to plant CCs

• Use time tested CC methods • Use more than one method of planting CCs

• Plant mixtures/cocktails • Grow some crops e.g. small grains, vegetables, corn

silage, shorter season hybrids/varieties that are harvested early

• Plan residual herbicide programs carefully • Irrigate

The

most tried and true cover cropping system in

the Midwest region

Frost seeded red clover

Traditional cover cropping in the Midwest

There are lots of options after small grain harvest

corn

soy

Does your county look like this?

0

200000

400000

600000

800000

1000000

1200000

1400000

2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005

Corn

Soy

wheat

Corn, Soybean and Wheat acres in Western IL (Adams, Brown, Fulton, Hancock, Henderson, Knox, McDonough, Schuyler and Warren)

Acr

es

Drilling CC after corn/bean harvest is a good option for a limited # of acres!

There are many options other than drilling

Annual ryegrass & radishes aerial seeded into soybeans at leaf drop.

Aerial seeding is fast and relatively cheap but more sensitive to weather

Set-up for efficient aerial seeding in SE IA

Steve Nebel

Steve Nebel

Steve Nebel

IA and IL Aerial Applicator Survey (May-June 2010)

Name Location Experience w/CC Cost

Cady Aerial Spray Rock Falls, IL

no exp., no customer

interest $8.00/a norm app $8.50/a cc

Benoit Aerial

Spraying Kankakee, IL turnips and rye $8.00/a norm app $10.00/a cc

Franks Flying

Service Morrison, IL ryegrass and c. rye $8.00/a norm app $10.00/a cc

Reeds Fly-on

Farming Mattoon, IL

yes, c. rye, small part

of business $8.00/a norm app $12.00/a cc

Killiam Flying

Service Carlinville, IL

rye, wheat on beans,

rye on corn $8.00/a norm app $10.00/ac

or 10/lb

Curless Flying

Service Astoria, IL ryegrass and turnips $8-15.00/a all app.

Klein Flying

Service

St. Francisville,

IL annual rye and turnips ~$12.50/a cc,

$9.00/a liquid app

Agriflite Services Wakarusa, IN rye, wheat, ryegrass ave $15.00/a for cc app.

Al's Aerial

Spraying Ovid, MI rye and wheat $10-15.00/a cc

$10.00/a liquid

Seeding cover crops with liquid manure

Cover crop seeding while harvesting

Effective multi-tasking or cover crop chaos???

http://www.greencoverseed.com/

Cover Crops and Corn and Soybean Herbicides h

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Beware of hype!

Cover crops are not a silver bullet solution to

any problem

The rock star of cover

crops!!!

With lots of space, moisture, fertility and time to grow, individual radishes can get huge!

but a good stand of 1” radishes will probably do more for your soil!

Tillage Radish®

plots

control

Soil compaction decreased by >40%

Ohio State

University

Crop root density as affected by previous cover crop

Chen and Weil (2006)

Roots at ~ 40” after 45 days

4’

• much less top growth but deeper roots than cereal rye • much less winter hardy than cereal rye • can be difficult to kill • can be a serious weed in small grains

Radishes are not the only good bio-driller!!

One day, in the mid-1980s, Upton got a magnified view of his soil’s limitations. While tearing out a fence, Upton noticed plenty of moisture in the soil about three feet down. Above it sat a compacted layer of soil through which no roots were growing. Upton had a visible confirmation of why, during dry years, the shallow-rooted crops dried up even though there was plenty of water stored in the soil below.

Ralph “Junior” Upton Springerton, Illinois 1,800 acres of no-till corn, beans and wheat & annual ryegrass, cereal rye and hairy vetch cover crops Problem Addressed Difficult soil characteristics. Ralph “Junior” Upton farms poorly drained land characterized by an impenetrable layer, or “plow pan,” six to eight inches deep that crop roots typically can’t grow through.

“I began looking for a way to break up that plow pan so my crops could get to the moisture they needed”

Learn from cover crop innovators • Attend field days/host a field day

• Attend conferences

• Participate in internet forums

Field day at Steve Groff’s farm

$

What is innovation??

VS

This type of innovation must be used on millions of acres to pay for R&D

Home grown innovation that fits your acres

adopt ≠ adapt

Are you an early adopter?

Are you a master adapter?

Farmers that make cover crops work tend to be master adapters!

~ 120 profiles since 2008

Read about CCs in on-line forums

Subject Replies Views

> 100 threads and > 200,000 views in 2011

Use precision planting

Bio-strip till

September 2008

Radish planted on 30” rows using milo plates in mid-August 2010

Attempt #3

“A Wheat-Corn-Bean rotation with "tillage" done via RADISHES (!!) into the wheat stubble every third year! All done with a single 60 ft

30" planter, RTK and one 60ft toolbar. Fertilizer efficiency is very good with banding, split application and no fall losses.

I came away from there thinking I have seen the future of production

agriculture, at least in some areas.

Sorry to go on so long but this was a very interesting day. The field of tillage radishes was incredible. The size of those things

does really seem to break up the soil at least as deep as many tillage tools.

I think this may be the future for many folks and Joel, Steve, Ed and

others: I am no longer a skeptic!”

A Wheat-Corn-Bean rotation with "tillage" done via RADISHES (!!) into the wheat stubble every third year! All done with a single 60 ft 30" planter, RTK and one 60ft toolbar. Fertilizer

efficiency is very good with banding, split application and no fall losses.

I came away from there thinking I have seen the future of

production agriculture, at least in some areas.

Sorry to go on so long but this was a very interesting day. The field of tillage radishes was incredible. The size of those

things does really seem to break up the soil at least as deep as many tillage tools.

I think this may be the future for many folks and Joel, Steve, Ed

8625 views!!

Cover crop system Relative

corn yield

Volunteer oats 79%

Radishes planted on 30” 99%

Radishes drilled on 7.5” 91%

Corn following cover crop experiment in 2011

Corn planted on radish rows

Keep good records – Date of planting

– Seeding rates, drill settings…

– Take lots of photos!

My computer is about to explode from cover

crop overload :->

Optimize fertility • Inoculate legumes

• Inoculate non-legumes?

• Fertilize cover crops when

residual fertility is low

Soybean seeds often contain >25% more N than was fixed within

their nodules

Do all legumes add N to the soil?

Hairy Vetch 3,260 lbs of DM/ac

141 lbs of N/ac

133 lbs of K/ac

18 lbs of P/ac

52 lbs of Ca/ac

18 lbs of Mg/ac

Learn from research On-farm research

• Leave check strips - replicate if possible

• Work with universities/NRCS

Research station trials

• Make suggestions

• Pay attention to results

Cereal rye inter-seeded with soybean for in-row weed control at the Allison Farm

Cereal rye and several other CC species that require vernalization will be planted over soybeans rows using the

insecticide boxes on our planter in 2012

No significant differences in yield between 20&40 lbs of rye in row vs. 60 lbs broadcast vs. control (all trt

means > 40 bu/a)

Joe Rothermel’s new rig

Cover crops planted with insecticide boxes while stripping

Wheat + radish trial at the Allison farm November 2010

3 lb/a = 2 lb/a = 1 lb/a > 0 lb/c ~ 2.5 bu/a yield boost

Annual ryegrass variety trial at the Allison farm November 2010

Bruiser, Bounty and KB Royal had the most top growth

> 36”

Early July 2009

Organic No-till research at the Allison Farm

Soybeans drilled after rolling 5’ tall cereal rye

Early August 2009

Early November 2009

Plot yields ranged from 51.6 to 58.6 bu/ac

No significant differences between NT, CT and bio-strip-till systems

November 2010

Plot yields ranged from 42-52 bu/ac

Significant foxtail pressure but almost no broadleaf weeds

August 2011

November 2011

Have you considered this option for combating herbicide resistance!

Soybean health experiment – 6 locations across IL

Mustard Rapeseed

Canola Cereal rye Cereal rye

November 2010

Soybeans no-till drilled into cereal rye were the top yielder in 2011

incorporated pre-plant

no-till

Cover Crops

Adapted from Magdoff and Weil (2004)

Which potential benefits of CC are most important to you?

Feed livestock

Erosion Control

Good advice from Steve Groff…

TREAT

YOUR

COVER

CROPS

LIKE YOUR

CASH

CROPS!

Be realistic about potential cover crop

challenges

How will I seed the cover crop? What will soil temperature and moisture conditions be like?

What weather extremes and field traffic must it tolerate? Will it winterkill in my area?

Should it winterkill, to meet my goals? What kind of regrowth can I expect?

How will I kill it and plant into it? Will I have the time to make this work?

What’s my contingency plan—and risks—if the cover crop doesn’t establish or doesn’t die on schedule?

Do I have the needed equipment and labor?

Start planning today for next fall!