David Brown experimented with many cover crops before settling on annual ryegrass for his 80-acre organic farm, Mustard Seed Farms.

He found it to be the easiest cover crop to manage, especially when terminating it and incorporating it into the soil in the spring, which is typically cool and wet in his region.

Along with improving nutrient management and soil organic matter, he feels that a cover crop maintains soil structure, which can otherwise suffer if fields are left bare during the region's wet winters.

Mustard Seed Farms produces a variety of warm- and cool-season vegetables, and has been certified organic for more than 20 years.