Committing to Cover Crops
By: Dillon Blythe
Cover crops have been getting a lot of buzz in the agriculture industry for years with both skeptics and faithful believers. In Iowa, there are approximately 12-13 million acres of row crop ground and of that 600,000 acres are seeded to cover crops; about 10% of total row crop acres. This number has been growing every year with more producers integrating this practice for various reasons.
Every operation is different and various cover crops provide many different benefits such as increasing cation exchange capacity levels, reducing runoff, protecting water quality, soil health, grazing for livestock etc.
The possibilities with cover crops are endless but as a producer, you need to consider 3 things:
- Establish why you are putting on cover crops and understand the impact they will have on your operation. What benefits are you hoping to reap?
- Identify and evaluate your ROI with cover crops.
- Commit and trust in the system.
It is said that cover crops take a three to five-year rotation before you start seeing soil health benefits and a yield response. The biggest reason is when you raise corn/soybeans AND cover crops you are requiring different microbes in the soil. As a result, it takes a while for drastic adjustments to occur that you can see on a yield monitor or on a soil test.
Of course cover crops are beneficial on your owned land but also your rented acres. Not only are you increasing land productivity but by investing in the landowner’s acres you are strengthening your relationship with them by increasing their land value in more ways than mowing field entrances and cleaning out fence lines. For the cow-calf producer, it can mean hay savings with grazing and in some instances baling and chopping capabilities while still enhancing your soils.
What are the takeaways?
Cover crops positively impact your operation in more ways than one. To make cover crops a complete success, you must correctly manage and commit to the practice.
For more information on what types of cover crops to use and which is a good fit for your program, talk to a Stutsman Agronomy Advisor.