Annual ryegrass and cereal rye are both popular cover crops in the corn and soybean rotation in the Midwest. However, many seed dealers and growers still get the two confused. Here’s an article from today’s No-Till Farmer that highlights some of the differences.
Annual Ryegrass, Cereal Rye Have Important Differences
Knowing the differences between annual ryegrass and [...]
Continue reading about Annual Ryegrass Compared to Cereal Rye as a Cover Crop
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 [...]
Continue reading about Annual Ryegrass Boosts Production Because of Nitrogen Kick
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 [...]
Continue reading about Annual Ryegrass Scavenges Nitrogen from Old Crops - Gives it up to New Crops
Continuous No-Till and Cover Crops – Boosting Soil Organic Matter, Carbon, and Crop Yields
Since 1969, select farm plots at the University of Illinois have been in continuous no-till. In that time, the measure of organic matter has been boosted three-fold – from about 1 percent to 3.2 percent, without use of cover crops. In the [...]
Continuous No-Till and Cover Crops – Boosting Soil Organic Matter, Carbon, and Crop Yields
Since 1969, select farm plots at the University of Illinois have been in continuous no-till. In that time, the measure of organic matter has been boosted three-fold – from about 1 percent to 3.2 percent, without use of cover crops. In the [...]
Since 1969, select farm plots at the University of Illinois have been in continuous no-till. In that time, the measure of organic matter has been boosted three-fold – from about 1 percent to 3.2 percent, without cover crops, according to Mike Plumer, the natural resources management educator at the university Extension. He said that in [...]
