Annual ryegrass is an ally when it comes to converting to no-till practices. The cool-season grass soaks up available nitrogen from the soil in its vegetation and roots. When killed in the spring, the stored N is released, made available to the corn or soybeans planted afterward.
The trick however, is that the cover crop can [...]
Continue reading about The Mystery of Nitrogen in Converting to No-Till
In a recent Forage Legume Management Guide, Texas A & M University recommended annual ryegrass as part of a desirable mix to overseed warm-season perennial grass in pasture.
Part of the mix recommended is legume, like clover, because of its nutritive value, its ability to fix nitrogen and also for it being a good for controlling [...]
Continue reading about Word Spreads about Annual Ryegrass Use in Forage and for Cover Crops
The Midwest Cover Crop Council is producing a very useful tool for those interested in venturing into no-till. Here’s the link to their web information
. They look at a variety of factors - location, soil type, crops planted after the cover crop and more.
But for general information, here are a range of attributes we’ve [...]
Iowa State University has preliminary results on cover cropping in corn - the potential to boost yields even after removing the bulk of corn stalk residue for use in biofuel production!
Here’s the article that appeared today in Agro Times online:
Two years into a study looking at methods of combining a living cover crop between corn [...]
Continue reading about Iowa State Research on Cover Crops Shows Yield Boost in Corn
I noticed these recent posts on No-Till Farmer’s website - growers recognizing the value of cover crops to prevent erosion. Note that in the second case, he’s using cover crops on waterways, as well as on crop lands.
Dan Gillespie is a no-tiller at Meadow Grove, Neb., and state NRCS no-till specialist. At this time, [...]
Continue reading about Annual Ryegrass and other Cover Crops - Erosion Control Plus
A grower from Kentucky wrote recently about his use of annual ryegrass as a cover crop:
I think one of the keys to winter survival of Ryegrass is to NOT put nitrogen on it in the fall. Nitrogen causes a plant to take on a lot of water. What happens when water freezes? It expands and [...]
Continue reading about Nitrogen Use with Annual Ryegrass in the Fall - To do or Not to do?
