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
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