Farmers all over Indiana are realizing the benefits of cover crops.  Fields with cover crops may dry out earlier than fields left bare over the winter, due to their ability to stabilize wet fields by taking up moisture. 

State Agronomist Barry Fisher with USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service says, “In a wet year cover crop growth can be much farther along than planned, so the management decisions on how to kill the cover crop have to be adjusted.  Under these conditions a faster acting herbicide may be needed.  However, cover crops are still worth the investment because they stabilize moisture levels and reduce erosion, scouring and nutrient losses.”

Cover crops are grown between regular crop rotations like corn, soybean and wheat.  Examples of cover crops are annual ryegrass, crimson clover, oats, oil-seed radishes, and cereal rye.  Cover crops are not intended as a harvestable crop, but are grown to enhance productivity.  Benefits of cover crops include:  improving soil structure by increasing soil organic matter and root penetration; protecting otherwise bare soil from wind and water erosion; using nitrogen left in the soil, preventing it from polluting waterways; and cycling nutrients back into the soil that will be available for corn and soybean crops.

Fisher explains that when used as part of a conservation cropping system, cover crops increase soil productive health and decrease risk, no matter what the conditions.  “Fields have less erosion and better moisture management with a cover crop, lessoning risks from drought or flooding.  Fields in long term no-till with cover crops made it through last year’s drought with higher yields than expected,” said Fisher.

Information on cover crops and conservation cropping systems can be found at http://www.in.gov/isda/ccsi/.  For more information on cover crop management techniques, visit the Purdue Extension Weed Control Guide at http://www.btny.purdue.edu/Pubs/WS/WS-16/WS-16.pdf.  For assistance with conservation planning producers should contact their NRCS district conservationist at a USDA Service Center, which can be found at http://www.in.nrcs.usda.gov/contact/directory/field_offices.html. 

Cover Crop Information / Links   

Numerous cover crop trials are being conducted across Indiana by private industry, NRCS, Purdue Extension and the Conservation Cropping Systems Initiative.  http://www.in.gov/isda/ccsi/index.htm

More information on cover crops can be found at:    

Adding Cover Crops to a No-till System
http://cookingupastory.com/the-next-step-adding-cover-crop-to-a-no-till-system-2

Cover Crop Blog by Dave Robison, CISCO Seed Inc.
http://plantcovercrops.com

Cover crops for northern Indiana: a Wisconsin experience.
No-Till Farmer is providing a FREE no-till report for registering to view no-till videos.
http://www.no-tillfarmer.com/pages/Video---Cover-Crops-at-Miller-Farms-Nick-Miller,-Stone-Bank,-Wis.php

Cover Crop Selector for Indiana Counties
http://www.mccc.msu.edu/SelectorTool/2011CCSelectorTool.pdf  
Support for the model is provided by: 
Dean Baas, PhD
Michigan State University Extension, W.K. Kellogg Biological Station, Land and Water Unit
3700 E. Gull Lake Drive
Hickory Corners, MI  49060
Phone:  269-671-2412 ext. 260
Email:  baasdean@msu.edu

Cover Crop Webinars
http://www.ciscoseeds.com/webinars.php

Midwest Cover Crop Council
http://www.mccc.msu.edu/

Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program
http://www.sare.org/publications/covercrops.htm

Additional Resources
No-till/Strip till
Nutrient/Pest Management
Precision Farming

Send mail to stacia.henderson@in.nacdnet.net with questions or comments about this web site.
Last modified: 11/02/11