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Mike Plumer 2012 Report on Annual Ryegrass and Other Cover Crops

“Why has there been such an increase in cover crops in recent years?” asked Mike Plumer at the Oregon Seed League meeting yesterday.

  • First, it’s about capturing the nutrients in the field, keeping nutrients from running off during winter and spring months. In a normal year, there can be 90 lb/ac of nitrate available for annual ryegrass or another cover crop to take up. In 2012, because of the drought, there was probably well over 100 lb/ac in many places. With the cost of nitrogen going to $1500 – $2000/ton, it’s easy math to see why cover crops make sense.
  • “Cover crops can double your yields,” Plumer said. Though rare, in a terrible weather year like 2012, there were lots of instances where farmers more than doubled their yields with annual ryegrass and other cover crops. The secret is rooting depth. Without cover crops, corn roots starve out quickly as they hit compacted layers. With annual ryegrass roots penetrating to beyond 6 feet, they allow channels for corn roots to follow.

Plumer’s caution to the group was in terms of cover crop seed quality. “There are about 7 varieties of annual ryegrass that are hardy enough to weather a Midwest winter,” he said. Because of the popularity of annual ryegrass, however, seed provided to unwary Midwest farmers may not be among those seven varieties. Plumer said it would be a tragedy to flood the Midwest with seed that won’t grow well. His advice to buyer’s;  beware…and ask lots of questions about the source and variety of seed. His advice to seed growers: make sure you’re sending us varieties that will withstand Midwest winter conditions.

 

Annual Ryegrass – A Key Part of the Cover Crop Revolution

Odd as it may sound, agriculture’s future in the US depends increasingly on seed grown in the Willamette Valley. Annual ryegrass and crimson clover seed are two mainstays in the cover crop revolution, wherein fallow winter acres in the Midwest are being repaired instead of ravaged.

The revolution began as a casual, tradeshow conversation between two farmers 15 years ago, one an Oregon grass seed grower and the other a dairyman from Ohio. The dairyman said: “That annual ryegrass is something else. You guys ought to market it better in the Midwest.” The Oregonian, who was promoting tall fescue seed at the Kentucky tradeshow took note and began digging into the idea. Until then, annual ryegrass was worth very little per pound, added into blends strewn onto parklands and roadsides in the south to prevent soil runoff in the winter.

Now, with drought and hypoxia common in our vernacular, cover crops have become a cause célèbre in the agriculture industry. Regulations now require cover crops in some places…to keep soil nutrients from leaching into lakes, rivers, bays and the Gulf of Mexico. Federal agencies pay farmers up to $100/acre for planting cover crops. The practice is uniformly heralded by an unlikely coalition including the USDA, the EPA, Ducks Unlimited, the Environmental Defense Fund and Monsanto corporation! The acreage planted in cover crops continues to double and triple each year (an estimated 1 million cover crop acres planted in just the past 5 years); meanwhile, growers in the Willamette Valley have seen the price of this “commodity” crop double in the past couple of years as surplus has turned to scarcity.

Pioneer of Cover Crops and Annual Ryegrass Talks Dry Year Benefits

Ralph “Junior” Upton (Springerton, IL) began using cover crops (buckwheat and hairy vetch) in the 1980s, mainly to reduce erosion on his hilly acres. In the 90s, he began looking for a cover crop to break up the hardpan soil just below plow depth. “I haven’t got the best soil, so I’ve always been tinkering with how to improve my yield, especially in dry years,” he said.

Working closely with Mike Plumer (a farmer and Univ. IL Extension educator at the time), Upton was among a half dozen Midwest producers who tried annual ryegrass on small plots, planted in the fall after harvest. “I rely on Mike for knowing what to look for in the soil. When I called him out that next April, we were all surprised to find ryegrass roots to 72 inches, with a top growth of only 4 inches,” Upton said. “I had always thought that you only get an inch of roots for every inch of top growth.”

Later that summer, after having killed the ryegrass and then planted corn, he went back to the same field location to see whether the deep ryegrass roots might have impacted the growth of corn roots. “The annual ryegrass opened up small channels that corn roots used to access deeper soil and moisture,” Upton said. Deep rooting has allowed his corn and bean crops to do better in dry years, because the cover crop also took care of the hardpan soil. “There was no longer any restriction to growth,” he added.

This year, having gotten only one rainfall when the corn was knee high, his crop was not as productive as in normal years. Still, with some farmers in his area mowing down their entire acreage, Upton was happy getting an average of 70 bu/ac. and a high of about 130 bu/ac. With temperatures above 100 degrees for weeks, many saw their corn fail to pollinate. Upton wonders whether pollination, in addition to deeper rooting (soil was bone dry to 3 feet), could be impacted by the presence of annual ryegrass.

Dan Towery Recalls the Early Days of Cover Crops

Back in the mid to late 1980s, Dan Towery got enthusiastic about cover crops. “Mainly, we were interested in reducing erosion but we were also looking at nitrogen fixation properties that could benefit corn planted into the residue,” he said.

But then, in the summer of 1988, the drought was much like it was this past summer (2012), and as Towery recalls, the results of “not knowing enough about cover crops” created a multiplier effect in the drought’s impact.”In order to give the hairy vetch the maximum time in the ground, to maximize the nitrogen fixation, farmers left the cover crop in the field until the 3rd week of May, when normal corn planting is the 3rd week of April.

“The vetch sucked too much moisture from the ground and the drought was made worse because of that decision,” Towery said. I said then: ‘I’m not promoting cover crops anymore!'”

But times and attitudes changed with the addition of annual ryegrass as a cover crop alternative in the early 90s.By the late 90s, Towery was working at the Conservation Tillage Information Center, promoting no-till mostly. Early results from Mike Plumer’s work with farmers in Illinois were producing promising results with annual ryegrass.

It wasn’t long before Towery was a believer again. In fact, he was an advisor working with the Nature Conservancy on a watershed enhancement project in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, where farmers were paid to use annual ryegrass to prevent field runoff.

“Look at the change in acceptance since then,” Towery said. “From a time where we paid farmers $500 to plant 10 acres of cover crops  (1998) to now, when we’re experiencing a shortage of annual ryegrass and other cover crop seed, because of the demand.”

Towery said that education has bee a key element in the popularity of cover crops. “And, an important element continues to be the caution about use of cover crops….you have to be willing to be a good manager of the cover crop, no matter which one you choose.”

Annual Ryegrass, Cover Crops in General are the Wave of Ag’s Future

Progressive Farmer magazine published an article by its Ag Policy Editor last week advocating the use of cover crops, especially this year, due to the potential for winter crops to sequester nitrates left in the field from the foreshortened corn crop season.

You can read the whole document here: Advocating for the Soil

Statistics indicate that less than 1% of farmers in the “Upper Mississippi River, Great Lakes and Missouri River basin” were planting cover crops in 2007. My belief, having seen firsthand the growth over the past decade, suggests that the increase in cover crop use since 2007 has absolutely gone off the charts.

I’ve been told that cover crop seed sales (and with annual ryegrass near the top of popular choices) doubled last year (2011) and tripled in the year before that.

Part of the increase has been publicity and the cost-sharing programs rolled out by various governmental agencies. In addition to cover crops being great for soil building, a lot of folks are looking at cover crops as the antidote to hypoxia in various bodies of waters: Chesapeake Bay, the Gulf of Mexico, the Great Lakes and all the rivers feeding those massive bodies of water.

 

THIS THURSDAY: Ohio Field Day to Feature Cover Crop Planting Advice and Tips

Ohio No-Till Field Day

September 11, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The 2012 Ohio No-Till Field Day is going to be held Thursday, September 13 with demonstrations on planter and drill setups, a firsthand look at cover crop plots and discussions on cover crop choices included in the day long program.

“Dave Brandt is hosting it and he’s getting quite a reputation nationally for his work with cover crops and no-till and the success of it,” said Randall Reeder, retired Extension ag engineer at Ohio State. “I think a key thing with it this year, with the drought, cover crops that were properly managed with continuous no-till are increasing yields.”

Speakers at the No-Till Field Day include, Gabe Brown of North Dakota, Bill Lehmkuhl and Ray Archuleta, a soil scientist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

The event is from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the David Brandt Farm, 6100 Basil Western Road, Carroll, Ohio.

Annual Ryegrass IS NOT THE SAME as Cereal Rye

The name “rye” in both cover crops is confusing.  Annual ryegrass is a grass; Cereal rye is a grain, more like wheat.

Both are used for cover crops and forage.

Here are some basic differences, with the most distinctive in bold:

1.                   Annual Ryegrass                                                                         2.      Cereal Rye

Seed size/weight –     very small (26 lb/bu)                                                          larger (56 lb/bu)

Plant date –         varies, but late Aug/early Sept. best                                    can be planted later Sept.

Seeding rate –     drill: 12 – 17 lb/ac; aerial: 25 lb/ac                                               drill: 45 lb/ac.

Winterkill –        med. risk, less with 40 days fall growth and snow cover                          no

Deep rooting –     yes, to 60 inches over a few years                                   not as deep, 24 – 36 inches

Top growth –      10 ” to 12″ in spring, before burndown                    20″ at burndown, can get to 72″

Nitrogen –       sequesters N; releases N after burndown                     sequesters N; too much in stalks

Management –    care in burndown; no volunteers!                         easy kill; careful w/ over growth

Allelopathic –                              no                                                          yes, with certain crop seeds

Cost –              less $/ac. because of low cost/# and fewer #/ac.                higher cost/# and more #/ac

 

Annual Ryegrass and Other Cover Crops Boost Yield in Dry Years

Two Midwest farmers had a common soil problem – compaction – and they discovered how annual ryegrass could remedy that problem permanently, with no more “heavy iron” involved.

Read the whole story of how using annual ryegrass, and other, cover crops have led to new appreciation for having something green growing in your soil year-round. Besides breaking up compaction, cover crops build organic matter, prevent erosion and leaching of field nutrients into nearby streams and rivers.

The biggest discovery, however, was that because of its deep rooting, annual ryegrass helps summer crops sustain their health through sustained months of dryness. The difference in yields on harvests from cover crop acres – from those on conventional tilled land, or even straight no-till – is astonishing.

Read the whole article by clicking here.

Cover Crops, including Annual Ryegrass, Important This Year to Soak Up Residual Nitrates

The University of Wisconsin (UW) published today an invitation for Midwest farmers to use cover crops this year, especially in light of the severe drought. You can see the whole article by clicking here:

An excerpt of the article, by UW staffers Matt Ruark, Kevin Shelley and Francisco Arriaga, as well as Rock County Extension staffer Jim Stute, follows:

With a growing season like we are having in 2012, it is likely that residual nitrate concentrations in the soil will be high, especially if corn was harvested early as silage or if yields are well below expected. One benefit of planting cover crops after corn silage, small grain, or a processing vegetable crop, or after a manure application is that the cover crop can take up residual nitrate and reduce the risk of nitrate leaching between harvest and planting.

Cover crops trap nitrate. The ideal cover crops for a nitrate trap crop are grass crops that establish quickly, such as cereal rye (aka winter rye), oat, barley, annual ryegrass (aka Italian ryegrass), and sorghum-sudangrass. These cover crops also have a fibrous root system. Brassicas (e.g. radish, turnip, mustard) and legumes (clover, hairy vetch) will also take up residual nitrate, but do not establish as quickly. Radish has been popular cover crop in no-till systems and, if planted early enough, radish can take up as much or more N compared to grass cover crops during the winter, but grass cover crops can scavenge N deeper into the soil profile.

The USDA-NRCS has announced additional funding through Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP) to provide financial assistance to establish cover crops. The sign up for this program runs to August 24.

Annual Ryegrass Recommended for Forage & Cover Crop this Fall

Annual ryegrass was among the recommendations for forage this fall by the Where Food Comes From webside. The grass, already a popular cover crop in the US, can do double duty where farmers seek added food for livestock. Click here for full article...below is a paragraph from the article.

Late August to Early September Plantings
Spring oat, spring triticale, and annual ryegrass can also be planted from late August to mid-September, immediately after an early corn silage harvest. These later planting dates will produce lower yields (1500 to 3000 lbs dry matter/acre) and harvest will be delayed into months with poor drying conditions (November to early December), but would be an excellent option for grazing or green chopping. Forage quality will be very high with these later plantings – CP will range from 20 to 32%, NDF will be 30 to 38%, and NDF digestibility will be 75 to 85%. If an early spring forage harvest is desirable next year, winter triticale and winter rye should be included in mixture with the spring oat and spring triticale planted in late August and early September.