Annual ryegrass was featured in a cover story in this week’s Indiana Prairie Farmer. The story was essentially about the new Indiana Cover Cropping Systems Initiative, a three year project funded by the following partners:
- Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
- Indiana State Dept. of Ag
- Indiana Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts
The project - which grew out of the Conservation Tillage Initiative, aims to encourage more growers to employ no-till and cover crops in their corn and soybean rotations. Dan Towery, whose work on no-till and cover crops spans more than two decades, was hired to co-coordinate the project. Hans Koch, a veteran of both university teaching and ag industry work, will be the other half of the team.
“We want to show farmers how they can utilize cover crops to make their farming system more efficient,” Towery said in the article. “It’s not just about saving soil - it’s about capturing nutrients, too.”
In the cover story photo, Dan and Hans are in a field of annual ryegrass that was planted in August, while the corn was still in the field. Aerial planting of cover crops was popular in 2009 because of the lateness of harvest. The annual ryegrass got a good start before harvest and in the photo, taken in mid December, the grass was showing above the corn stubble, up about six inches. The cover crop will help prevent erosion, while putting down roots to three feet or more, and sequestering nitrogen for the coming season.
Towery and Kok say that cover crops are economical as well as being a soil-building conservation measure.
Email us for a copy of the article, or you can access it directly by going to the Indiana Prairie Farmer (Farm Progress) website.
Tags: Aerial seeding, Annual ryegrass, annual ryegrass as a cover crop, Dan Towery, deep rooting, Hans Kok, Indiana Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts, Indiana Cover Cropping Systems Initiative, Indiana State Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, nitrogen-friendly cover crop help reduce the cost for fertilizer., No-Till, No-Till corn and soybean, NRCS, sequesters available nitrogen
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