The Midwest Cover Crop Council’s conference last week - where 120 people from 13 states came to talk about cover crops - is the latest indication of the growing excitement in reducing conventional tillage in favor of no-till and cover crops. Cover crops save money (in fact, there are financial incentives available) and boost crop productivity by improving soil health. If there is a downside to this, it is only that growers must change their management practices to make it work well.
While many of the attendees were large scale farmers, others were not. Some, including Iowa farmer Gary Guthrie, have converted acreage from corn and soybeans to a garden that supplies a Community Supported Agriculture operation. Here’s what he said about the value of cover crops.
“When I started farming in 1998, I could not have imagined how productive my soil could be,” he says. “Cover crops have been the key to soil building, and disease and weed control.”
In eight Midwest states, a Mississippi River Basin Initiative has received $320 million to reverse the impacts of farming and industry on that river and the Gulf of Mexico. Cover crops will be part of the collaborative effort to make those changes sooner than later.
In Indiana, my partner Hans Kok and I are in the midst of developing an on-farm network of growers agreeing to use cover crops. Among those most popular is annual ryegrass, which is inexpensive to grow, has vast and deep roots, and sequesters nitrogen for use by other crops. Iowa has had a very successful statewide network of such farms, in which 500 growers conducted repeated trials with different cover crops to determine what was best for them.
And as a resource for us all, the Midwest Cover Crop Council has developed a web-based cover crop decision tool for those considering cover crops. By entering specific data about your land, cash crop, desired cover crop and other information, the user will get back instruction what cover crop, planting times and other such things will be most advisable.
Tags: Annual ryegrass, cover crop, deep rooting, Midwest Cover Crop Council, No-Till, No-Till corn and soybean, No-Till farming, ryegrass cover crop, sequesters available nitrogen, soil health
In the last year, Penn State conducted tests on various nine cover crop species, including annual ryegrass, as well as eight mixtures. The tests took place on 374 plots through the state. Click here to see the power point presentation.
The advantages listed on annual ryegrass include:
- low seed cost
- vigorous root system
- high forage quality (if needed)
The advantage of using annual ryegrass with crimson clover added these:
- Ryegrass provides longer lasting residue in summer (weed suppression and nutrients to crops and soil w/ decay)
- Good nitrogen fixation from clover
- Inexpensive, due to low seed cost for ryegrass and clover mix
While not exempt from winterkill over harsh winter months, Penn State found that annual ryegrass has a much better survival rate than other cover crops like oats, tillage radish, phacelia and sunn hemp. Some believe winterkill is desireable, because there’s no spring management issues. True enough, but the advantages of having a cover crop on the field in the spring reduces or eliminates erosion, gives added nutrient value to subsequent crops and suppresses other annual weeds from taking root.
Penn State listed a disadvantage of annual ryegrass - potential control problems in the spring. That’s certainly true, but easily avoided if you pay attention to its growth stage and the weather. Check out the extensive “how to” on the annual ryegrass website.
Tags: all cover crops, Annual ryegrass, annual ryegrass as a cover crop, deep rooting, erosion control, forage, nitrogen-friendly cover crop help reduce the cost for fertilizer., No-Till, No-Till farming, Penn State, ryegrass cover crop, winterkill
Mike Starkey, a forward-looking Indiana farmer, changed the way he feeds nitrogen to crops - injecting the fertilizer at the plant roots rather than broadcasting it. That boosted growth and saved money. But he realized by studying the runoff from his field tiles that most of the nitrogen leached from the field once the soybean crop was harvested. He saw a big pulse after harvest and another the following spring, after thaw.
So he started using annual ryegrass as a cover crop. That has held the loose nitrogen in the field, scavenged in the annual ryegrass plants. (Mike Plumer, a U of Illinois agronomist, says that an annual ryegrass plant can sequester 800 pounds of N!) The results in lost nitrogen has been pronounced. So, too, has the the increase in crop productivity. He said:
“I ended up with a 7-bushel yield advantage with the corn behind the ryegrass (151 bushels per acre) vs.the corn that was planted into soybean stubble only (144 bushels per acre).”
Tags: all cover crops, Annual ryegrass, annual ryegrass as a cover crop, Mike Plumer, Mike Starkey, nitrogen-friendly cover crop help reduce the cost for fertilizer., sequesters available nitrogen
Mike Plumer, an agronomist with the University of Illinois began to recommend annual ryegrass over a decade ago, when he discovered its value as a nitrogen-scavenging cover crop.
“When a soybean plant dies, it immediately starts to degrade. If you get any rainfall on the residue or through the nodules, it’s going to leach nitrogen quickly.”
The rule of thumb about nitrogen has been: Corn crops planted into soybean fields the year after will get a pound of nitrogen for every bushel of soybeans harvested. Plumer says that isn’t the case in southern Illinois or southern Indiana.
“In southern Illinois, our experience has been that we typically get zero nitrogen the following year out of the beans mainly because of warm weather, any rainfall or anything else that’s going to start leaching nitrogen immediately through the profile. We’re going to lose it all by next spring.”
He said that tile lines will often reveal large flushes of nitrates in the late fall after rainfall and again in the spring after the thaw.
“That’s why I got involved looking at ryegrass because when I studied the different cover crops, it has the greatest affinity to hold the most nitrogen. A ryegrass plant can hold up to 800 pounds of nitrogen and still only be 12 inches tall.”
(Information in this article also appeared in No-Till Farmer magazine)
Tags: annual ryegrass as a cover crop, erosion control, Mike Plumer, nitrate leaching, nitrogen scavenging, nitrogen-friendly cover crop help reduce the cost for fertilizer., No-Till, No-Till farming, organic matter, sequesters available nitrogen
Most of the farmers I’ve met this week at the Pennsylvania No-Till training are in the dairy business, even though some are getting out due to the low price of milk the last couple years. Some are putting in row crops, which would change a lot of management practices.
According to folks from Penn State, the No-Till Alliance and others I’ve talked to here this week, more than half of the farmers growing corn are doing it in a no-till system! And at least half of them are using cover crops. They apparently value what no-till and cover crops can do to their depleted, rocky soil, striped of organic matter and nutrients over the past two centuries.
The preferred cover crop here seems to be oats. Though not as deep rooting as annual ryegrass, oats are easy to establish after harvest. And, whereas annual ryegrass will idealy winter over, oats will not…with the advantage of not having to kill it with herbicide in the spring.
In terms of seeding, there is a small window between harvest and onset of cooler weather. While drilling seed is recommended, some have been trying aerial seeding into standing corn, or broadcasting with high clearance equipment. I’ve suggested to some that they try dormant seeding next year…spreading annual ryegrass or oat seed on bare frozen ground in December or January. While you won’t get the benefit of fall rooting, and maybe not quite the same level of erosion control, having something growing is better than nothing at all.
Tags: Aerial seeding, Annual ryegrass, annual ryegrass as a cover crop, cover crops in dairy farming, Dan Towery, deep rooting, dormant seeding, No-Till, No-Till farming, oats, organic matter, Penn State, Pennsylvania No-Till Alliance, ryegrass cover crop, seeding with a drill
Annual Ryegrass used as a cover crop adds organic matter in no-till operations. Why? The massive root structure left behind increases organic matter as it decays. Having something growing in the ground year-round allows earthworms and healthy bacteria to keep working, building nutrients, building carbon.
Each time the soil organic matter is improved by 1%, one acre will store 10,000 more gallons of water. Increased organic matter also means having increased water infiltration - as much as 400% in three years in the Midwest. When you increase water infiltration and organic matter at the same time, you’re bound to see increases in crop yields, especially in dry (or low-rainfall) years.
Tags: all cover crops, Annual ryegrass, annual ryegrass as a cover crop, crop yield, No-Till corn and soybean, No-Till farming, organic matter, water infiltration
