Posted 8/17/2015 08:29 (#4737431 - in reply to #4737394) Subject: RE: cover crop fanatics
Southeast WI
conservation cop - 8/17/2015 08:07
Here's why I don't think it will be a fad: the benefits are real to see and the environmental regulations are pushing for them.
I have been planting cover crops for the past 10 years, mostly after wheat but recently after soybeans and some of my corn ground because even with notill i need another step up to control soil erosion. Cereal rye at 45-50 lbs per acre, home raised is not expensive to drill in and i get a 100% stand vs flying, etc.
Saying the benefits are real to see is one thing, proving that is another and that is what is needed if these practices will have staying power. If we have proven benefits where is all the data to back that up? Remember the radish craze several years ago? 12 bpa advantage for the following corn crop and 6 bpa for soybeans if i remember correctly? Several years ago I went digging for the actual data from Maryland and it was hard to find. And overall data did not back up those numbers over many trials.
So think about this. Years ago universities showed nitrogen in almost every case was a profitable practice to use on corn. Widely adopted then. We need the same movement for cover crops. Now obviously it wont be of that magnitude to increase yields but we need to show an economic benefit too.
cover crop fanatics
