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 [...]
Continue reading about Bumper Crop of New Interest in Cover Crops - including Annual Ryegrass
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 [...]
Continue reading about Penn State’s Cover Crop Demonstrations - Annual Ryegrass Values
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
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 [...]
Continue reading about Pennsylvania No-Till Farmers Consider Cover Crops
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 [...]
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 [...]
