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Cover crop trial and error for Minnesota farmer

 

mcnamara-cover-crop

It’s been trial and error for a southeast Minnesota farmer experimenting with cover crops the past three years.

Ed McNamara of Goodhue says a helicopter was used the first time he incorporated cover crops into his operation.

“We broadcast cover crop into standing corn…not very successful with that.”

He tells Brownfield an airplane flew on seed the following year.

“If a person is looking at one species of cover crop, maybe an aerial application might be a little more successful.  We were trying to shoot for more of a mix, and a lot of that tended to get caught up in the crop canopy.”

So this year McNamara decided to drill into an early maturity soybean field right after harvesting it.

“Very happy with the way it’s going, and of course we haven’t had any frost to terminate it yet.  The triticale is probably four to five inches tall.  The winter peas and turnips are both throwing a second leaf out.”

McNamara says the cover crop will not only protect organic matter and soil structure through the winter, but help his heavier clay soil dry out in the spring.

His cover crop mix includes winter triticale, winter Austrian peas, and purple top turnips seeded at 30 pounds per acre.

 

 

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