August 2015 Notes From Steve
Have you considered adding cover crops to your management plan? Cover crops can be a great way to add fertility to your fields, suppress weed growth, reduce soil erosion, and reduce soil compaction. Some common cover crops for Iowa are rye grain, tillage radishes, turnips and triticale.
Cover crops can add fertility to your field by pulling nutrients up through the soil profile through their roots, some of which can go as deep as 30 feet. When the plants are killed and decompose, the nutrients remain in the upper soil profile for use by your cash crops. Plants are typically planted immediately after harvest or aerial applied before harvest occurs to obtain a strong establishment before a hard freeze.
Rye grain is a great cover crop if you can’t get into your fields to plant until later in the fall. Rye grain germinates quickly to provide soil surface protection. Tillage radishes and turnips also germinate quickly and have thick foliage that shades out available space. After 2-3 nights in the mid-teens they are killed off and will decay by cash crop planting time. If forage quality is something that is important to you, you may want to consider Triticale. Triticale is rye grain crossed with wheat and is widely used for forage. There are also a variety of cover crop mixes that offer multiple benefits.
Along with aerial application, Stutsmans is offering custom seeding of cover crops. This is a great option if you don’t have your own drill or remain busy all through the fall. Having us take care of planting for you, will help ensure that you remain available to get your usual fall workload accomplished. For more information or pricing, contact your agronomy salesperson.
Plan for Fall
We never know just how much of a fall we are actually going to get and want to make sure that we can make the most of the time we have. By reviewing your fall goals with your Agronomy sales rep, we can help you accomplish your objectives and make the most of the time available this fall.
Remember fields should be soil sampled every 3-4 years. If it is time to sample your fields be sure that you allow enough time to get results back before fertilizer needs to be applied. Grid sampling allows your salesperson to run a variable rate prescription for your field that can be applied by our machines. These field prescriptions help to get the right product on your fields where they need it.
To help establish a strong fall plan, consider discussing the following questions with your salesperson: Do your fields need lime or fertilizer? Do you want dry products or liquid? Are you going to incorporate cover crops into your operation? Do your fields need a fall herbicide application? What were some problems you faced in your fields this year?