There is no shortage of articles out there right now about the benefits of cover crops, ranging from increased soil health, keeping nutrients in the soil, reduced compaction, weed control, erosion control, and the list goes on. Here are just a few of the recent articles I have came across – feel free to read up on it yourself.
But does it really pay to be doing it? How do you go about doing it in your operation? What seed should you use, when should you seed it, how should you apply it?
These are all very good questions that we intend to take a very close look at and will be reporting back on several different methods of application, timing, and type of cover crop to use, then reporting back with our own results and some data to back it up.
Currently, we are looking at aerial application into standing crop, a 3 point fertilizer spreader in standing 30 inch beans, drilling after harvest, using a vertical tillage tool and air box, and applying with liquid manure.
We will also be evaluating several different types of cover crops, so that we can see how all of this applies to some of our own applications.
Feel free to leave comments here with your personal experiences using cover crops – please leave your location along with your results!
Comments