Cover Crop Season Is In Fully Swing

Aug 25, 2016

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.

Source: psu.edu

Video: 2.5 Billion Pounds Of Sunflower Are Harvested To Produce Oil This Way | Farming Documentary

2.5 Billion Pounds Of Sunflower Are Harvested To Produce Oil This Way - Let's Dive In! Join us as we uncover the extraordinary journey behind harvesting a staggering 2.5 billion pounds of sunflowers in the United States, all to produce the golden sunflower oil that graces kitchens worldwide! In this documentary, we take you from vast sunflower fields to cutting-edge oil production facilities, where modern innovation meets agricultural expertise.

What You'll Discover:

•The Sunflower Harvest Process: Dive into the fascinating methods used by farmers to plant, care for, and harvest sunflowers across America's farmlands.

•High-Tech Harvesting Machines: See the impressive machinery in action, from specialized harvesters designed for sunflower seeds to the efficient transport systems that ensure every pound counts.

•From Seed to Oil: Explore the transformation of sunflower seeds into premium cooking oil, including cleaning, pressing, and refining processes in state-of-the-art factories.