Cover Crops

Soil Health Specialist Says Dry Conditions Have Complicated Cover Cropping

From Brownfield Ag News:

Click here to listen to the 5-minute interview with Dr. Anna Cates, University of Minnesota Extension Soil Health Specialist and Brownfield Ag News.

Some farmers new to cover crops might be having second thoughts after another dry growing season.

University of Minnesota Extension soil health specialist Anna Cates says cover crops generally take up a lot of water in the spring and fall.

“At a time when we have a lot of water. It rains a lot (and) the soil is holding a lot of water (so) it’s great to have something growing and reducing that a little bit. But the last couple years that reduction has kind of left us short for cash crop water supply, and that’s been a real hardship (and) we’ve seen poor stands because of it.”

She tells Brownfield farmers who have been using cover crops for several years or more don’t seem too concerned.

“For people who have seen the benefits over time, they say it’s 100 percent worth it. But if this is your first year and you barely saw any stand and then you had trouble terminating it in the spring, and then you saw a cash crop yield drag, that was not a great experience.”

Cates says early termination of the cover crop and lower seeding rates can help mitigate the challenges dry weather presents.

Paulding County Extension Looking for Fields with History of Slug Damage

Do you or some you know have a field that regularly suffers from slug damage? Do you plant cover crops on your farm? If so, we have a great opportunity for you! Rachel Cochran, Water Quality Extension Associate for Paulding, Defiance, and Van Wert Counties is looking for fields to add to her on-farm research project. The project aims to address the question “Do radish cover crops deter slugs?”, and is a continuation of greenhouse and plot-scale research studies.

If you are interested or would like more information, reach out to Rachel at cochran.474@osu.edu or (567) 344-5016.

Share your thoughts on cover crops in the National Cover Crop Survey!

Why do you plant cover crops… or why don’t you?

Share your thoughts on cover crops in an online survey at bit.ly/CoverCrop23. Why do you plant cover crops… or why don’t you? What do you want to know about cover crops? Where do you get your information about them? Your insight will help guide research, communications, seed development, and more.

This National Cover Crop Survey is the seventeenth since 2012 conducted by USDA-NIFA Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) Program, Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC), and the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA), with the help of Informa/Farm Progress.

Please take a few minutes to contribute your voice at bit.ly/CoverCrop23.

After completing the questionnaire, you may enter a drawing for one of three $100 Visa gift cards.

Controlling Slugs and Voles in Cover Crops

From the OSU CORN Newsletter:

By Rachel Cochran, CCA and Paige Garrabrant, Water Quality Extension Associates

Last week, OSU Extension’s Water Quality Team launched their annual webinar series with a two-part webinar on cover crops. The team works closely with producers throughout the Western Lake Erie Basin to implement practices that not only improve growers’ operational efficiencies and profitability, but also to promote soil health and reduce nutrient and sediment loss. Several producers that the team works with have requested more education specifically on cover crops.

The webinar last week focused on cover crops with a handful of different speakers. Tim Reinbott, Director of Field Operations at the University of Missouri’s Agricultural Research Stations, provided listeners with some insight and advice on controlling slugs and voles, which are common in no-till and reduced-till situations. Continue reading →

Cover Crops Roundtables to be Hosted in Paulding County

Paulding County Extension is re-starting its Cover Crops Roundtable Series after a three-year hiatus. This series was created as a platform for farmer-to-farmer interaction, with OSU Extension serving as the discussion moderator. The goal of the series is to allow peer learning through networking, problem-solving, and idea sharing regarding the benefits and challenges of growing cover crops on the farm. Continue reading →

OSU Extension’s Water Quality Wednesday Webinar Series is back for 2023!

Join OSU’s Water Quality Extension Associates for their annual winter webinar series focusing on the interaction between agriculture and water quality. These webinars will take place monthly from January to March 2023. Continue reading →

Soil Health Tour 2022 Sites Finalized

 

The 18 in-person and 6 virtual tour stops for the 2022 Soil Health Tour have been finalized and are almost ready to be visited by farmers, conservationists, and soil-lovers around Northwest Ohio, Southeast Michigan, and Northeast Indiana. The tour officially opens Monday, September 19th at 8AM and closes Wednesday, September 28th at 5PM. A wrap-up event will be held Thursday, September 29th at the Paulding County Extension Office from 6-8PM to close out the tour. Register for the September 29th event at go.osu.edu/soilhealthtour.

The flyer with tour site information can be accessed here.

The in-person tour stops are as follows: Continue reading →

Save the Date for 2022’s Soil Health Tour!

 

Save the Date! The second annual Soil Health Tour, presented by OSU Extension Paulding County, will be held September 19th-28th, 2022. Visit tour stops showcasing a variety of soil health practices across the region. This year, we have expanded to include tour stops in Northeast Indiana and Southeast Michigan as well as Northwest Ohio. We are also introducing a few virtual tour stops to showcase sites that may be inaccessible to the public or better explained through photos and videos. However you plan to attend, we hope to see you during Tour Week!

Wrap up the Soil Health Tour with Paulding County Extension on Thursday, September 29th, 2022 at the Paulding County Extension Hall. Join us, a guest speaker, and farmers and landowners who provided tour stops for an educational and networking event. Meal will be provided with $10 registration fee. Certified Crop Adviser (CCA) continuing education credits will also be offered at the wrap-up event on September 29th.

Stay tuned for more information as we get closer to the event: go.osu.edu/SoilHealthTour; We can’t wait to see you!

New 5-Minute Agriculture Topic Video on Cover Crops

Check out the newest video in the 5-Minute Ag Topic Video Series, found on the Paulding County YouTube Channel. This video, centered on cover crops, features Water Quality Extension Associate, Rachel Cochran, and Agriculture & Natural Resources Extension Educator, Sarah Noggle, both from our Paulding County Extension Office. To learn more about benefits that cover crops can provide, as well as tools for selecting the best ones to fit your goals, click the embedded video above!

Using Citizen Science to Improve Cover Crop Performance in the Great Lakes Region

Collaborators: Etienne Herrick, University of Michigan; Tim Boring, Michigan Agriculture Advancement

Funding: USDA NIFA Predoctoral Fellowship, University of Michigan’s Rackham Program in Public Scholarship

CLICK HERE TO PARTICIPATE

In the Great Lakes region, overwintering cover crops can provide numerous agroecological benefits, such as soil conservation and nutrient cycling, weed and pest control, and climate resilience. However, these benefits largely depend on the successful growth of cover crops, which can be highly variable across farms due to a range of environmental factors and management practices (e.g., soil type, planting strategies) that influence cover crop establishment and growth in distinct conditions. This project will use a citizen science approach to improve understanding of cover crop performance across variable conditions and, in turn, help farmers better achieve the benefits they can provide. Specifically, we will partner with Great Lakes farmers to identify: i) the extent of variation in cover crop growth across the region, and ii) which environmental and management factors best explain this variation.

By sharing information about their farms and management practices in a short online survey, and conducting a brief field sampling protocol to estimate cover crop growth, farmers will serve as key collaborators in a data-driven effort to improve cover crop outcomes. Results from this project will inform context-specific recommendations for optimal cover crop management across different farming conditions. This community-based research links academic and practitioner knowledge to advance food system sustainability and resilience.

We are seeking participants for spring 2022! If you are currently growing overwintering cover crops in the Great Lakes region and would like to participate, please complete this quick survey or contact herricke@umich.edu.

Soil Health Webinar Series Continues!

The OSU Extension 2022 soil health webinar series will present “What does the Research Tell Us about Cover Crops & Soil Health?” on February 3, 8-9 a.m. Join us as OSUE Field Specialist Elizabeth Hawkins and State Soil Specialist Steve Culman share recent Ohio research trial results. Come with your questions! We hope to use the chat feature to collect some ideas from you on things you’re trying or would like to see researched. Register at go.osu.edu/soilhealth2022 for this virtual event. And mark your calendar for our final session on March 3, “Hot Topics – What’s the Future of Soil Health?”

Regional Field Days Focus on Cover Crop Application and Termination – Paulding County host site

OSU Extension will host two educational field days focused on soil health and cover crops next week. Extension specialists and farmers experienced with cover crops will present on topics including inter-seeding cover crops into a growing crop, terminating cover crops, cover crop variety selection, and more. Field demonstrations cover crop plots, and equipment demonstrations will be on-site.

Each field day is free to attend. Registration is appreciated. Register at go.osu.edu/RegionalFieldDay

Monday, August 16th – 6:30-8:30 pm. Location: Klopfenstein Farm (Paulding County), 10136 Road 60, Haviland, OH.  The event will feature Jason Hartschuh speaking about interseeded cover crops and Alyssa Essman will speak about cover crop termination.

Tuesday, August 17th – 2:00-5:00 pm. Location: Fayette County Airport, 2770 Old Route 38, NW, Washington CH, OH. This event is part of the Southwest Corn Growers’ Field Day, which is from 9:00-2:00 pm. Get more information on this field day here.

Purdue Researcher Shalamar Armstrong to speak in Paulding County on Thursday, August 19

Know via his Twitter handle as the @CoverCropDr, Dr. Shalamar Armstrong is an Associate Professor of Soil Conservation and Management in the Department of Agronomy at Purdue University. He holds a B.S. degree in Plant and Soil Science from Southern University, an M.S. in Soil Fertility from Alabama A&M University, and a Ph.D. in Agronomy from Purdue University.

Paulding County is very excited to host a soil health tour round-up event with Armstrong as the keynote speaker. Speaker Shalamar Armstrong of Purdue University will speak on Cover Crops’ Effects on Nitrogen and Phosphorus Cycling and Fate, and certified crop advisor credits will be available for this talk. In addition, talk with farmers from Northwest Ohio about different practices used to improve soil health on their farms. This event follows the Northwest Ohio Soil Health Tour showcasing different soil health practices, such as reduced tillage, cover crop usage, manure usage, and structural practices such as controlled drainage and wetlands.

Soil Health Event – Thursday, August 19th from 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM; networking from 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM with speaker Shalamar Armstrong beginning his talk at 7:30 PM. A free meal is being sponsored by The Nature Conservancy and an RSVP is appreciated by Wednesday, August 18 by 5:00 PM.

Where:  Soil Health Event – Paulding County Extension Building, 503 Fairground Dr. Paulding, OH 45879

Cost: No cost

RSVP: Registration is required for the Soil Health Event, as a meal will be provided at go.osu.edu/soilhealthtour

For more information, contact Rachel Cochran at Cochran.474@osu.edu or 567-344-5016 or Sarah Noggle, noggle.17@osu.edu or 419-399-8225

Soil Health Tour and Event Scheduled for Northwest Ohio

Farmland, Half, Soil, Ground

By Rachel Cochran, OSU Extension Water Quality Associate

Paulding County Extension will be hosting two events in Northwest Ohio in August: a soil health tour and a follow-up event with a guest speaker. The soil health tour includes stops around Northwest Ohio showcasing different practices to help improve soil health. A map of tour stops can be found at go.osu.edu/soilhealthtour and will be updated as tour stops are confirmed. Continue reading →

Producers with Crop Insurance to Receive Premium Benefit for Cover Crops

From the RMA Website 

WASHINGTON, June 1, 2021 – Agricultural producers who have coverage under most crop insurance policies are eligible for a premium benefit from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) if they planted cover crops during this crop year. The Pandemic Cover Crop Program (PCCP), offered nationally by USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA), helps farmers maintain their cover crop systems, despite the financial challenges posed by the pandemic.

The PCCP is part of USDA’s Pandemic Assistance for Producers initiative, a bundle of programs to bring financial assistance to farmers, ranchers, and producers who felt the impact of COVID-19 market disruptions.

“Cultivating cover crops requires a sustained, long-term investment, and the economic challenges of the pandemic made it financially challenging for many producers to maintain cover crop systems,” said RMA Acting Administrator Richard Flournoy. “Producers use cover crops to improve soil health and gain other agronomic benefits, and this program will reduce producers’ overall premium bill to help ensure producers can continue this climates-smart agricultural practice.” Continue reading →

Improved tool can help Midwest farmers with cover crop decisions

A cereal rye cover crop planted following corn in late April on an Iowa farm. The Midwest Cover Crops Council’s new cover crop tool can help farmers determine the best types of cover crops for their fields. (Photo courtesy Tom Kaspar)

The cover crop decision tool described in this article will be used in discussions during the 2020 Virtual Farm Science Review.

The following article is a reprint from the September 9, 2020, Purdue University Agriculture News.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Cover crops have been shown to improve water and soil quality, reduce erosion, and capture nutrients. Choosing the right cover crop, however, can be difficult.

The Midwest Cover Crops Council (MCCC) —made up of representatives from 12 Midwest states and universities, including Purdue, the province of Ontario, and other agricultural stakeholders — is rolling out an improved cover crop selection tool that will help farmers make those decisions. Users select their state/province and county and then select the goals they have for cover crops — erosion control, nitrogen scavenger, fighting weeds, and providing forage, etc. They also can provide information about the cash crops they are planting and drainage data for their fields. The tool offers the best cover crop options for the specified conditions. Clicking on the cover crops brings up data sheets that offer more information about each crop, seeding rates, and more. Continue reading →

Herbicide Residue Considerations for Fall Cover Crop Establishment

Cover Crops in Corn Stalks

Article from CORN Newsletter on September 1, 2020 – By Mark Loux and Alyssa Essman, OSU

Herbicides with a residual that is used in corn and soybeans can affect the establishment of fall-planted cover crops and should be taken into account when planning cover crop practices and selecting species. Soil characteristics and weather also play a role in the persistence of residual herbicides, which can vary by field and year. More information is needed on rotational intervals for many cover crop species, and this information is often not included on herbicide labels. University weed scientists have studied the effect of residual herbicides on some of the most popular cover crop species in order to provide this information to growers. In general, residual herbicides that control grass weeds can hinder the establishment of grass cover crop species. Broadleaf cover crop species are most impacted by group 2 (ALS inhibitors), 5 (PSII inhibitors), 14 (PPO inhibitors), and 27 (HPPD inhibitors) herbicides (Purdue University). Continue reading →

Soil Residual Herbicides And Establishment Of Cover Crops In The Fall

Crimson clover stands in 2019 cover crop trials. (Photo Credit: Connor Hodgkiss)

By Marcelo Zimmer and Bill Johnson, Purdue Extension

Indiana growers have shown increased interest in utilizing cover crops in our corn and soybean production systems over the last decade.  Concurrently, there has also been increased utilization of soil residual herbicides to help manage herbicide-resistant weeds such as marestail (horseweed), waterhemp, and giant ragweed in our corn and soybean production systems.  Soil residual herbicides can remain active in the soil for a period of weeks to months after application.  The length of time a residual herbicide remains biologically active in the soil is influenced by soil texture, soil pH, organic matter, rainfall, and temperature.  Since these factors will vary from field to field, definitive time intervals of residual herbicide activity can be difficult to predict.

The use of residual herbicides in our corn and soybean production systems may interfere with the establishment of fall-seeded cover crops under certain conditions.  Unfortunately, many of the species being used for cover crops were not evaluated for herbicide carryover when field research was conducted to support EPA’s approved herbicide labels.  As a result, data are lacking regarding rotational intervals of many residual herbicides for the establishment of many cover crop species. Continue reading →

Cover Crop Field Day in NW Ohio, SE Michigan (Hillsdale Conservation District Cover Crop Field Day)

Join Hillsdale Conservation District on Thursday, September 3 for their 2020 Cover Crop Field Day hosted by Person Farms (19233 County Rd. 5.50, Montpelier, OH 43543; .5 mile South of W. Territorial Rd.). Please note, registration is required for entry. You may RSVP with names and numbers of guests to Allison Grimm at 517-320-3245; Cody Birdsell at 517-260-1276; or e-mail hillsdalecd@macd.org.

Registration and dinner will be from 4:30 – 6:00 p.m. and the program will begin at 6:00 p.m. with a cover crop test plot tour followed by a cover crop trial and error open discussion. Credits offered include 2 MI RUP credits and CCA credits (pending approval).

Cover Crop Considerations After Wheat

By:  Jason Hartschuh, OSU Extension AgNR Educator, Crawford County (originally published in The Ohio Farmer)

Wheat provides many additional opportunities for your operation. These options include drainage improvements, weed-control timing, double-crop soybeans, double-crop forages, compaction mitigation, and soil building through cover crops. From the time wheat is harvested, there are about nine months for weeds to grow and soil to erode. If double-crop soybeans are not planted, the use of cover crops will protect the soil and assist with weed control. High populations of cover crops provide competition and soil cover to control weeds. Continue reading →