By Sjoerd Willem Duiker
A critical component of soil management is to plant cover crops as soon as possible after harvest of the previous crop.
Open fields after small grain harvest should be planted to cover crop already, while corn silage harvest should be followed immediately with the drill to avoid losing any growing season. Farmers benefit from planting cover crops in multiple ways – they help improve organic matter content and improve soil structure through their roots and the soil organisms living in the rhizosphere; they scavenge nutrients left behind after harvest; they cover and protect the soil from erosion; they are a place to spread manure, and they may provide forage if needed. Timeliness is key for cover cropping success so have the seed and drill ready – every week of growing season you lose now is like three weeks of growing season later in the fall. Even if soil conditions are dry, as they are in some parts of the state, it is recommended to plant the cover crops immediately because it is likely rain will come soon which will result in very fast cover crop establishment.