cover crops

The Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC) is taking a survey of farmers who've grown cover crops. Sponsored by the USDA Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program, CTIC would like to know when you started planting cover crops, how many you've planted in recent years, how many acres you plan to plant in 2013, how many total acres you farm, among other cover crop questions....More

When it became apparent that the dry spell many Ohio growers experienced last year would become the worst drought in 50 years, David Brandt wasn't worried about how well corn and soybeans on his 1,150-acre farm would fare. The Carroll, Ohio, farmer instead relied upon a natural form of insurance that left the soils in his fields protected against the devastating effects of the record heat and drought that decimated many farmers nationwide in 2012....More

Keith and Brian Berns rarely get a day off in their corn, soybean and rye/triticale rotation. Their separate entity, a cover-crop seed operation, makes sure of it. But the diversified enterprises provide more overall profit potential in volatile marketing environments. The Berns brothers no-till about 2,500 acres outside Bladen, Neb.; about 30% of those are irrigated. Some of both irrigated and dryland acres are used for cover-crop seed production, marketed through Green Cover Seed. The brothers’ company, formed in 2009, markets several lines of legumes, broadleaves, grasses and radishes, turnips and other exotic Brassicas....More

During 2012’s long, hot summer, Roger Wenning got a firsthand look at how a little soil residue can go a long way to add resilience to a crop. On May 14, the Greensburg, Ind., farmer no-tilled corn into a field that had been in a ryegrass/crimson clover cover crop over the winter. Since this was a high population study, he used a twin-row planter to seed at a population of either 39,000 or 45,000 seeds/acre....More