News

Still time for cover crops after harvest

An extension educator says cover crop options are limited after harvest, but alternative technologies may help farmers establish crops earlier in the season.

Field crop educator James DeDecker with Michigan State University Extension tells Brownfield aerial applications and high clearance equipment are providing new options for farmers to interseed cover crops before harvest.

“This allows producers to go into corn and soybeans earlier in the year, say sometime in mid to late August, and it can germinate and get growing.”  DeDecker says earlier planting allows the crop to have more biomass at the end of the growing season heading into winter.

He tells Brownfield cover crops do help increase yields, which can be most noticeable during stressful seasons like 2012.  “Folks that had cover crops prior to that year of crop production saw dramatic increases based on how the organic matter in the soil allowed them to hold onto extra water and keep that crop from drought stress longer into the season.”

He says a recent Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program survey found farmers had yield gains of 3-to-4 percent in corn and soybeans when using a cover crop.

Farmers can learn more about interseeding cover crops at an upcoming MSU Extension field day October 21 in St. Joseph County.

AUDIO: Interview with James DeDecker (6:36 mp3):