Tag Archives: erosion control

Crop Yield Gains with Cover Crops

SARE (Sustainable Ag Research & Education) released a study of cover crop useage over the past 5 years. Read below, proof positive of the value in both crop yield and soil health. Best yet, the results are those reported by farmers themselves, based on what’s been happening on their farms.

A summary is below…you can find the whole report here: http://www.northcentralsare.org/CoverCropsSurvey

Key findings included the following:

  • During the fall of 2012, corn planted after cover crops had a 9.6% increase in yield compared to side-by-side fields with no cover crops.  Likewise, soybean yields were improved 11.6% following cover crops.
  • In the hardest hit drought areas of the Corn Belt, yield differences were even larger, with an 11.0% yield increase for corn and a 14.3% increase for soybeans.
  • Surveyed farmers are rapidly increasing acreage of cover crops used, with an average of 303 acres of cover crops per farm planted in 2012 and farmers intending to plant an average of 421 acres of cover crops in 2013.  Total acreage of cover crops among farmers surveyed increased 350% from 2008 to 2012.
  • Farmers identified improved soil health as a key overall benefit from cover crops.  Reduction in soil compaction, improved nutrient management, and reduced soil erosion were other key benefits cited for cover crops.  As one of the surveyed farmers commented, “Cover crops are just part of a systems approach that builds a healthy soil, higher yields, and cleaner water.”
  • Farmers are willing to pay an average (median) amount of $25 per acre for cover crop seed and an additional $15 per acre for establishment costs (either for their own cost of planting or to hire a contractor to do the seeding of the cover crop).

New Annual Ryegrass Publications

The Oregon Ryegrass Commission has published three helpful new flyers to aid in your selection and management of annual ryegrass as a cover crop.

1. Selection of Annual Ryegrass

2. 2014 Annual Ryegrass Management Guide – “Quick” 2-pager

3. 2013 Annual Ryegrass Management Guide – Comprehensive 4-pager

Please let us know if these could use further information or clarification.

All of these and more are available on the Annual Ryegrass Cover Crop website.

New to Cover Crops? Read this News Article about Annual Ryegrass and Radishes.

Long time Illinois farmer Sonny Snyder learned this year that cover crops are a money saver, a soil saver and, with success, a revenue enhancer…although he’s had to spend some time learning new management techniques.

Click here for the story. Here’s an excerpt:

After more than 50 years of farming, Sonny Snyder last fall planted a crop he never intended to harvest.

At first mention, the idea seems an odd use of time and money. Yet, a growing number of corn and soybean farmers like Snyder are trying it throughout the state to improve their soils.

Farmers call them cover crops, and the re-born concept seems one of the hottest topics in the agriculture industry, said Russ Higgins, commercial agriculture educator with University of Illinois Extension and a representative of the Midwest Cover Crops Council.

Cover crops, such as radishes and ryegrass, are a secondary crop planted in the fall to protect and improve soil conditions during the period of time when crops normally wouldn’t grow, he said. Illinois farm fields, unless planted to harvestable crops like winter wheat or multiple seasons of alfalfa hay, generally rest unused in a six- to seven-month window of cool or cold weather.

“For a long time, I’ve been concerned about taking our crop off our fields and there’s six months before there’s anything back on it,” said Snyder, who farms near Yates City with his son Scott.

Tracking N Loss in Midwest – Look at Cover Crops!

Studying the retention of inorganic N after last year’s drought was revealing. An Illinois team of researchers determined from 151 samples statewide that an average equivalent of 140 lb of N per acre was left over from 2012! (More than half was resident in the top foot of soil while the rest was in the second foot.)

Click here to read the whole article in No-Till Farmer.

The study also looked at how much of that  N was being lost this spring and found that between 20 – 50 lb/ac had been lost. The researchers speculate that some may be below the two-foot depth but said that with spring rains, drain tiles were showing dramatic increases of nitrates.

What the article didn’t mention is that annual ryegrass and other cover crops are superb crops to soak up that N available in the soil.

For more information about annual ryegrass, click here.

COVER CROPS MAKE A COME BACK

At the recent Ag Connect Expo & Summit (ACES) in Kansas City a survey conducted by Case IH, found that 85 percent of the 1,109 producer respondents are considering new cropping practices and technologies for this year’s growing season.

Here’s an excerpt from the article:

Cover crops are the top farming practice that will be tried for the first time in 2013 with 24 percent of respondents planning to plant them. “We’re seeing resurgence in cover crop use for multiple reasons,” says Brian. “They can improve soil tilth, water infiltration, organic matter levels, and soil fertility, as well as reduce erosion and suppress weeds.

For more information about annual ryegrass cover crops, click here:

Ryegrass, Clover, Radish are Top Picks for Post 2012 Drought Cover Crops

Annual ryegrass, crimson clover and radish are among the most popular cover crops this year in the Midwest, as farmers rushed to plant something to absorb some of the available nitrogen still in the soil. The drought stifled the corn harvest, and thus much of the nitrogen put out there for corn was subject to be washed into nearby streams and lakes. Planting a cover crop like annual ryegrass has a “two-fer” effect: preventing erosion and simultaneously keeping the nitrogen in place for aiding the next field crop in 2013.

Here’s the article link in the Tribune Star (Terre Haute, IN) in which farmers (both experienced and newcomers to cover cropping) and Purdue agronomist Eileen Kladivko discuss the value of cover crops.

 

Iowa Study Trumpets Ag Practices to Build Yield, Sustain Profit & Decrease Chemical Use

An Iowa University ag study determined that long rotations is as profitable and more productive for soil and the environment. Yet, the move away from conventional tillage is slow. Here’s part of the article, which you can see entirely by clicking here:

The study was done on land owned by Iowa State University called the Marsden Farm. On 22 acres of it, beginning in 2003, researchers set up three plots: one replicated the typical Midwestern cycle of planting corn one year and then soybeans the next, along with its routine mix of chemicals. On another, they planted a three-year cycle that included oats; the third plot added a four-year cycle and alfalfa. The longer rotations also integrated the raising of livestock, whose manure was used as fertilizer.

The results were stunning: The longer rotations produced better yields of both corn and soy, reduced the need for nitrogen fertilizer and herbicides by up to 88 percent, reduced the amounts of toxins in groundwater 200-fold and didn’t reduce profits by a single cent.

In short, there was only upside — and no downside at all — associated with the longer rotations.

With conventional tillage being the old way and organic representing another way, the author points to this study as “a third path”.

The Marsden Farm study points to a third path. And though critics of this path can be predictably counted on to say it’s moving backward, the increased yields, markedly decreased input of chemicals, reduced energy costs and stable profits tell another story, one of serious progress.

Perhaps most difficult to quantify is that this kind of farming — more thoughtful and less reflexive — requires more walking of the fields, more observations, more applications of fertilizer and chemicals if, when and where they’re needed, rather than on an all-inclusive schedule. “You substitute producer knowledge for blindly using inputs,” Davis says.

So: combine crop rotation, the re-integration of animals into crop production and intelligent farming, and you can use chemicals (to paraphrase the report’s abstract) to fine-tune rather than drive the system, with no loss in performance and in fact the gain of animal products.

Annual Ryegrass Cover Crop Improves Soil Microbiology

This beautiful stand of annual ryegrass, crimson clover, and radish is ready to burn down. Barry Fisher NRCS State Agronomist preaches soil health from the pit.

This pit had the highest count of earthworms, egg casings, and channels that I have ever seen in a soil pit. The field has been no-till for only 2 years.

The cover crop is giving this farmer a jump start on soil biology and a competitive edge!

(Photos, commentary by Dan Perkins, SWCD program specialist, spring 2012, Indiana)

Soil and Water Improvements with No-Till and Cover Crops

From No-Till Farmer online, an article about the reduction of nutrients in Chesapeake Bay with conservation ag practices. Note, at the bottom, the finding about cover crop adoption being able to make significant additional contributions.

USDA-NRCS released an assessment of the effects of conservation practices on cultivated cropland in the Chesapeake Bay Region.

The findings of the report were encouraging – with cash incentives, farmers volunteered to protect nearly half of cropland acres with buffers or terraces, while no-tillage was used on 48% and reduced tillage on 40% of cropland.

The adoption of conservation practices resulted in 55% reduction in edge-of field sediment loss, 42% reduction in surface nitrogen losses, 31% reduction of subsurface losses of nitrogen, and 41% reduction in phosphorus losses (both sediment-bound and soluble).

Implementation of the BMPs reduced total loads from all sources (including urban, hay and pasture, urban land) delivered to the Chesapeake Bay by 10% for sediment, 14% for phosphorus and 14% for nitrogen.

The report also recognized there was potential for further improvement, especially on 19% of cropland which was in need of further conservation treatment. The report recommended targeting these areas of highest need, and to help land users implement comprehensive conservation plans which cover soil erosion control and comprehensive nutrient management (including rate, form, timing and method of nutrient application).

The report estimated that only 4% of cropped acres used cover crops in the period of assessment (2003-06). It was estimated that adoption of cover crops on all cropped acres could reduce sediment loss further by 59%, nitrogen loss by 19% (subsurface loss by 31%), and phosphorus loss by 32%.