Tag Archives: sequester nitrogen

New Year, New Cover Crop for You?

Some may have formed this New Year’s resolution back in the summer: to give annual ryegrass a try as a cover crop.

As stated by many experts, don’t start too big with something you have little experience with. Cover crops are like driving on the highway, using a rifle for hunting game or playing full-tilt in a new sport – you run a better chance of success if you put your sights low the first year. Here are some tips:

Talk to others about their experience with annual ryegrass cover crops. Preferably, talk to a neighbor, who has similar soil condidtions
Research your local options for cover crop seed. Ask questions to find out whether your seed dealer is more interested in sales or in conservation tillage
Buy a variety of seed that has a track record for success. Specifically, you’ll want a variety that has been used in your area, and one that has shown hardiness for withstanding winter weather.
Plant a small parcel the first year, perhaps 10 acres or a bit more
Commit to keeping a very close eye on all details of the process: soil type and condition planting date, weather data during the time the cover crop is growing and inputs like nitrogen.

For more info on all these factors, visit our website

Annual Ryegrass Popular at Farm Progress Show

By MITCH LIES

Cover crops were center stage at the 2013 Farm Progress Show Aug. 27 – 29 in Decatur, IL. Prominent among them was annual ryegrass.

The emphasis on cover crops mirrors the skyrocketing interest in annual ryegrass and other cover crops by Midwest growers in recent years.

Agricultural consultant Mike Plumer, a retired University of Illinois Extension agent who has worked with cover crops for three decades, estimated that cover crop usage has grown 400 percent in the last two years, alone.

At the 2013 Farm Progress Show, cover crops for the first time were featured in a crop demonstration plot. The exhibit provided growers a first-hand look at different cover crops, like millet, radish, crimson clover, cereal rye, buckwheat, rapeseed, turnips, oats, winter peas and annual ryegrass.

Annual ryegrass has become one of the most well known cover crops in the past 15 years, Plumer said. He estimates that annual ryegrass represents 25 percent of the total cover crop usage in the Midwest.

“My yields have been climbing every year, particularly after the third year,” said Rich Recker, a Mt. Pleasant, Mich., grower who has used cover crops for six years. “The third year is the charm.”

A survey of 750 growers conducted last fall by the Conservation Technology Information Center and the USDA North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program showed that corn planted after cover crops had a 9.6 percent increase in yield, compared to corn planted next to it that didn’t follow a cover crop.

Soybean yields increased 11.6 percent following cover crops.

In the hardest hit drought areas of the Corn Belt, yield differences were even greater, according to the survey, with an 11 percent increase in corn yields and a 14.3 percent increase in soybean yields following cover crops.

The survey showed a 350 percent jump in the total acreage in cover crops between 2008 and 2012.

Joe Rothermel, of Champaign County, Ill., said he’s seen improved soil health since he started using annual ryegrass as a cover crop four years ago. The improved soil health has helped get water to plants, he said, particularly in drought years.

“I think we’ve got to do everything we can to get water into the ground, and keep it there,” Rothermel said.

Rothermel also said he’s getting weed control from the cover crop, a side benefit he never expected when he started using annual ryegrass.

“We don’t have near the marestail pressure,” he said.

Macon,IL., grower Paul Butler said he, too, has been getting weed-control from his annual ryegrass cover crop. He’s also been happy with the ryegrass’s ability to break up compaction.

“When we have compaction issues, there is not a lot I can do,” he said. “The radish and the ryegrass seem to be doing a good job with that.”

Butler said he flies on the annual ryegrass seed before corn is harvested. Doing so gives the annual ryegrass added time to establish before a killing frost.

John Gullidge, a farmer from Lewisville, Ill., said annual ryegrass is helping tie up nutrients in what he describes as poor soil and put them into a form the next crop can use.

“I’m trying to make the best of what I have with what I can,” he said.

Crop consultant Mark Mellbye, a former Oregon State University Extension agent, has been working with Oregon ryegrass seed growers on developing the Midwest cover crop market since the effort began in 1996.

Overall usage of annual ryegrass in the Midwest has increased from a few thousand pounds in the late 1990s, to maybe 5 million pounds three or four years ago, Mellbye said, and up to 15 or 20 million pounds this year.

The interest in annual ryegrass, Mellbye added, has skyrocketed just between last year and this year.

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).

Seeding Rate for Annual Ryegrass Cover Crop Varies

In past years, we’ve published pretty standardized rates for seeding annual ryegrass into corn and soybeans. The rates vary from about 12 llb/ac (drilling) to 25 lb/ac if broadcast or aerial seeding. Click here to go to our four-page management guide or here for our handy Quick guide.

Now, even among experts, there’s some thought to lowering the recommended seeding rate, in order to save money but also to make it easier to manage the ryegrass in the field.

Mike Plumer has seen instances where annual ryegrass was too heavy, creating difficulty drilling into it after burndown. The root mat of annual ryegrass, if too dense, can complicate the closing of the seed trench. Further, he says that annual ryegrass roots seem to go deeper if the stand is thinner, because the plants don’t have as much competition with each other. He’s seen effective stands at as low as 8 lb/ac and thinks the 25 lb/ac is too heavy.

Dan Towery is more cautious about cutting back on the recommended seeding rate. While he agreed with Mike that certain growing conditions would warrant less seed/ac, he doesn’t want to end up with stands that are too thin. He said that the 2012/2013 cover crop season was unusual in that annual ryegrass did super well. The reasons: lots of residual N in the field from last year’s drought, September rain that got the ryegrass established well and a long spring that prolonged the cover crop season.

The consensus decision, after more discussion, will manifest in a modification of language in our brochures. Stay tuned…but it looks like growers will be advised to use best practices for your area and the climate conditions. That means asking the experts, whether at your seed supplier, your Extention agronomist….or your neighbor who’s been growing successful cover crops and can guide you on the local recommendations.

And then again, you can always contact us…we’ll put you in touch with Mike or Dan – or any number of other successful cover crop growers in your area – and you can hear it directly from them..

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.

Annual Ryegrass Features in Summer Cover Crop Activities

The Indiana-based Conservation Cropping Systems Initiative was awarded $750,000 (Conservation Innovation Grant) to further quantify the value of cover crops – including annual ryegrass – in the Midwest over the next 3 years. The money has already been used to hire a project director (Lisa Holscher) and line out highly-visible projects to help explain and educate regional farmers.

The project will include 12 farms in Indiana, each of whom is contributing to the project’s budget. Each farmer chosen already has shown experience with on-farm re search, conservation measures, hosting field days and making public presentations. Each will receive mentoring and technical advice as part of their investment. Several those chosen are long-term cover crop innovators (Dan DeSutter, Jamie Scott, Cameron Mills) and they’ll become part of the advisory team for teaching.

According to a news release on the project: The majority of the sites compare no-till/strip-till only to no-till/strip-till with cover crops. Other comparisons include: strip-till with cover crops vs. no-till with cover crops; reduced tillage with cover crops vs strip-till with cover crops; and no-till with single-species cover crop vs. no-till with a cover crop mix. More specifically, soil fertility, soil moisture, soil nitrate, soil temperature, cover crop biomass, and some of the new soil health tests will be done. Test results will be compiled and analyzed by Purdue University.

Partnering with CCIS in the project: Indiana Corn Growers Association, Indiana Soybean Alliance, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Indiana State Department of Agriculture, and the Purdue Cooperative Extension.

Ryegrass Cover Crop Works Well for ASA Conservation Award Winner

Soil health is the main focus at Wenning Farms, in the rolling hills and tight clay soils of southeastern Indiana. The family operates more than 600 acres in a corn/soybean rotation.

Roger Wenning, the son of the founder of the farm, talks here in a video about his practice of rigorous on-farm research and field trials. His efforts paid off last year with good production even in the drought. His efforts also netted Roger the annual Conservation Award from the American Soybean Association.

Roger cover crops his entire acreage, has tried many different cover crops, and still makes a lot of use with annual ryegrass, because of its being a deep-rooting plant that sequesters N for the following corn plants.

Watch the video by clicking here

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.