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Thumb of Michigan | I think cereal rye with be the best option for you given your goals. Not sure I'd recommend anything else, although there are good options available. Covers eventually work better for many if you crawl before you run.
As far as wheat: I don't like wheat as a cover. Had too many issues managing it, and I found it harder to terminate than rye. It won't give you many of the benefits rye will, I'd still pick rye over wheat even if the wheat was cheaper.
As far as terminating rye and the timing goes: my experiences "here" don't mirror what other areas of the country does I guess. I planted soybeans into big green rye many times and had no negative issues. Conversely, I decided a long time ago that when planting a grass (corn in this case) into an established growing, green grass (any grass) the established grass wins. It can be a very hard lesson to learn, too. My problem with rye ahead of corn was that I couldn't successfully kill small rye (under a foot tall) with any chemical I used and rye was usually pretty small when I wanted to plant corn. You're in a way different latitude than me, may not be an issue at all for you.
Fact is, there are a lot of people who can tell you what won't work. I don't know how far you are from TNT, but I'd pay attention to what he's telling you will work. He's forgotten more than I'll ever know about cover crops.
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Need some cover crop advice from the experts
