Cambridge, southwestern Nebraska | Considering the same thing here. Here is what I have heard of from local farmer experiences just this week.
One consideration would be if you have cheat grass you will need to spray that off in the spring no matter what.
One farmer drills a bushel of wheat in early April and sprays it off at joint stage. He says he does not need to spray again until September.
A couple other farmers are drilling a bushel of oats in early spring. They are spraying that at boot stage or a little before. They are not having to spray again until September.
In both cases the cover crops are suppressing Kochia, waterhemp and volunteer corn. The key to making this work is both covers are killed off by early to mid June. Mid June for the wheat. The cover on the ground preserves any moisture received during the summer. The added benefit is the weed suppression.
I am thinking I will try the wheat cover due to wheat seed being readily available.
Here, we need to get the cover crop killed off pretty close to June 1 to qualify the ground as summerfallow. Otherwise it would be considered continuous wheat. |
High Plains cover crop in fallow
