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South Dakota | I wouldn't get real wound up about a name. I've got cattle grazing a wheat, radish, and turnip cover crop right now. They are getting 30 lbs of silage and cornstalk bales. I am introducing more nutrients into the system than I am taking off, therefore I'm building soil structure, sequestering and building nutrients, while feeding micro and macro organisms. The field is constantly full of birds hunting for worms. I get what you're saying, if you just chop it, aren't you taking too much from the system? A small grain does a lot for the soil, it's good for disease pressure, biodiversity, OM stratification, soil structure, aggregate stability, I could go on. Is just chopping the crop and pulling it off as good for the soil as terminating it and leaving it? No. I would argue that it helps increase short term economic benefits of cover crops while still getting most of the long term benefits.
Edited by blacksand 4/5/2016 08:09
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What's a cover drop?
