Cover Crops Field Guide For Farmers Expanded, Updated

Sep 24, 2014

By Emma Hopkins

Farmers interested in planting cover crops to improve soil health now have an updated and expanded resource in the second edition of the Midwest Cover Crops Field Guide.

The pocket guide, released Monday (Sept. 22),is produced by Purdue University and the Midwest Cover Crops Council.

Growers plant cover crops for a variety of reasons and possible benefits. Cover crops can trap nitrogen left in the soil after cash-crop harvest, scavenging the nitrogen to build soil organic matter and recycling some nitrogen for later crop use. They also can prevent erosion, improve soil physical and biological characteristics, suppress weeds, improve water quality and conserve soil moisture by providing surface mulch.

The first cover crops guide was released in February 2012. The updated guide is in response to the increasing interest in cover crops in the Midwest and to requests for additional information.

"All this new information will help farmers better choose appropriate cover crops for their situation and better manage the cover crops they grow - all for greater potential benefit for their soils and cash crop growth," said Eileen Kladivko, Purdue professor of agronomy.

The updated guide features seven new topics:

Getting started in cover crops.

Rationale for fitting cover crops into different cropping systems.

Suggested cover crops for common rotations.

Cover crop effects on cash crop yields.

Climate considerations including winter hardiness and water use.

Adapting seeding rates and spring management based on weather.

"Up and coming" cover crops.

There also is more information about herbicide carryover, manure and biosolids applications, and crop insurance issues.

Four states have been added to the new guide to round out information for cover crops in the Midwest. They are Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and South Dakota.

The guide's second edition is available at Purdue Extension's The Education Store atwww.the-education-store.com. Search by the name of the publication or product code ID-433.

A link to a video clip of Purdue University agronomy professor Eileen Kladivko explaining the benefits of cover crops is available at http://youtu.be/2NIyQeZ8jxQ

Source : purdue.edu

Video: No-Till vs Tillage: Why Neighboring Fields Are World Apart

“No-till means no yield.”

“No-till soils get too hard.”

But here’s the real story — straight from two fields, same soil, same region, totally different outcomes.

Ray Archuleta of Kiss the Ground and Common Ground Film lays it out simply:

Tillage is intrusive.

No-till can compact — but only when it’s missing living roots.

Cover crops are the difference-maker.

In one field:

No-till + covers ? dark soil, aggregates, biology, higher organic matter, fewer weeds.

In the other:

Heavy tillage + no covers ? starving soil, low diversity, more weeds, fragile structure.

The truth about compaction?

Living plants fix it.

Living roots leak carbon, build aggregates, feed microbes, and rebuild structure — something steel never can.

Ready to go deeper into the research behind no-till yields, rotations, and profitability?