Cover Crop Commentary: Addressing the Risks of Corn After Rye
Pro: reduce weed pressure. Con: soil nitrogen may be tied up. Pro: reduce soil erosion. Con: potential for allelopathy. Pro: increase organic matter. Con: increased insect pressure. We could pro-con list cover crops all day with their potential for both positive and negative impacts. Which leads to the need for some perfecting of their management even though this conservation practice was introduced in American agriculture in the 1860s (White, 2014).