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Cover Crops

Dirt should be covered. In the U.S. Midwest some soils have lost as much as 50% of their topsoil in the last 120 years of agriculture. Creating that soil required geologic time scales and events, including glaciers moving, pulverizing and mixing rocks, followed by 10,000 years or more of transformation by wind and water, and plants, animals and microbes. The rich agricultural soils created by these ancient events should be protected and used judiciously as we should any non-renewable resource.

Most annual cropping systems leave the ground bare for many months each year, exposing the soil to excessive drying and, when it does rain, the exposed soil with no living roots is vulnerable to erosion. To help address these problems, Green Lands Blue Waters is collaborating with the Midwest Cover Crop Council to promote the use of cover crops in agricultural systems based on annual row crops.

Oat cover crop on canning pea field. Photo courtesy of Rural Advantage/L. Meschke.

Cover crops hold soil in place and add vital nutrients and organic matter to the soil. While not economically important in themselves, cover crops improve productivity of the entire system. Cover crops are typically used in traditional cash crop farming systems to increase productivity. Shortly before or immediately after harvest, the cover crop is seeded into the soil in time for it to establish itself before winter sets in. In spring, the cover crop starts re-growing before it is killed prior to planting cash crops back into the soil. The choice of cover crop, timing and methods depend on numerous factors including type of cash crop, latitude, soils, and agronomic methods of the cash crop and the cover crop.

Rye cover crop growing through corn stubble. Photo courtesy of Minnesota Department of Agriculture/M. Zumwinkle.

New Cover Crop Decision Tool:

Farmers in Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin have an on-line tool to help them select a cover crop. The Cover Crop Decision Tool can be accessed here: www.mccc.msu.edu

The best cover crop to use on a particular field varies with cropping system, soil type, and climate. The Cover Crop Decision Tool has been calibrated to conditions in each state by working groups within the states.

Midwest Cover Crops

Examples of cover crops used in the Midwest include winter small grains, brassicas, legumes, and other crops such as buckwheat. The cereals selected are typically winter hardy, so they establish well in the fall and regrow in the spring, for winter soil cover as well as early spring weed control. Brassicas are fast growing and produce a large amount of aboveground and belowground biomass that can serve as a green manure when tilled in before a following crop. Legumes fix nitrogen in the soil as well as producing biomass for a further benefit as a green manure.

Green Lands Blue Waters partnerships advance the spread of cover cropping:

The Midwest Cover Crop Council (MCCC) functions as the cover crop working group for Green Lands Blue Waters. Based out of Michigan State University, MCCC is dedicated to establishing widespread use of cover crops in the Midwest.

One major effort of the MCCC has been to develop the Cover Crop Decision Tool, to support farmers' use of cover crops that will meet the needs of their farms. Working groups in Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Minnesota have adjusted the Cover Crop Decision Tool to reflect the specific climates, soils, and cropping systems prevalent in their states.

In Minnesota, Rural Advantage collaborated with University of Minnesota Extension to establish an Extension Conservation Agronomist position located at Rural Advantage's Fairmont, MN office. Jill Sackett, the Conservation Agronomist, coordinated the Minnesota working group for the Cover Crop Decision Tool.

Jill Sackett also works closely with Practical Farmers of Iowa, a Green Lands Blue Waters consortium member, on a SARE-funded cover crop demonstration project. This project involves 20 counties in Minnesota and 20 counties in Iowa, one farm per county and 20 acres per farm. Cover crops planted under this project include tillage radish, winter rye, field pea, oats, Austrian winter pea, triticale, hairy vetch, buckwheat, red clover, and pearl millet. Some crops are planted in mixtures; such as a tillage radish/winter rye/hairy vetch mixture. Jill Sackett works with cooperating farms in Minnesota to collect data on cover crop growth and yield, and yields of subsequent commodity crops. Field days have been held on most of the cooperating farms, and have been attended by farmers as well as agricultural educators. A final report on the project is due at the end of 2012.

References

Winter Cover Crops. 2010. Kristine Moncada and Craig Sheaffer. Chapter in Organic Risk Management. University of Minnesota.

Sustainable Crop Rotations with Cover Crops. 2009. James Hoorman, Rafiq Islam, and Alan Sundermeier. The Ohio State University Extension.

Managing Cover Crops Profitably, 3rd ed. 2007. Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (USDA-SARE).

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Photo credits for banner: Combine harvesting wheatgrass, The Land Institute; Hazelnut bushes, Brent McCown; Black Angus steer, Selket Jewett; Watonwan River, Linda Meschke/Rural Advantage.