If your operation’s goals are to reduce phosphorus (P) runoff and soil erosion while increasing yields, cover crops can certainly help — as nearly 30 Wisconsin farmers have discovered.

This week’s podcast, sponsored by Yetter Equipment, features Robb Ewoldt, a grower from Davenport, Iowa. Ewoldt will be a speaker at the upcoming Spring 2021 National Cover Crop Summit. Ewoldt shares a sneak peek of his presentation, discussing how he transitioned to using cover crops, his cover crop goals, his experiences seeding covers with a helicopter, and more.

Cover crops can be integral to a vegetable grower’s production cycle for a number of reasons, including soil erosion reduction, weed control, and more. A new research project backed by USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) aims to dig a little deeper by quantifying the nitrogen cycling benefits of cover crops across different organic vegetable production systems in Florida. Read more in this article from Growing Produce.

Cover crops can provide benefits to crop fields by protecting the soil from wind and water erosion, keeping excessive fertilizer from leaving the field and improving the activity of soil microbiology. Cover crops can also provide forage for grazing livestock. Read more in this article from the Linn County Leader (Brookfield, MO).

Soil conservation efforts can help maintain healthy soils for thousands of years, in contrast to nearly a fifth of soils worldwide that have less than a century of life in them, according to a new study. The major new report from a global collaboration of scientists, including the UK’s Lancaster University, found that 90 percent of conventionally farmed soils were thinning, and 16 percent had lifespans of less than a century. Read more in this article from the Fresh Produce Journal.

What would producers gain by visually examining the living soil that lies underneath their crops and grasslands? There could be problems with soil structure like erosion or root structures that grow horizontally rather than vertically due to compaction. Read more in this article from the Lincoln Journal Star.

An Iowa farmer is breaking up his rotation, reducing erosion, and providing additional forage benefits for his cattle by planting cover crops. Erik Helgerson, who farms near Lansing, Iowa, tried a unique sequence of cover crops this year on 11 acres near his home. Read more in this article from the Waukon Standard (Waukon, Iowa).

The Southern High Plains of the United States have low annual rainfall. When it does rain, though, intense storms can cause severe soil erosion. Strong winds also strip away valuable topsoil. Enter cover crops. Read more in this article from the Crop Science Society of America.

Learn more about ryegrass and the pros and cons of using this cold weather crop as a cover crop. Find out the best time to plant rye grass, why ryegrass is an excellent choice for preventing soil erosion, and why timing of ryegrass termination is so critical.

Farmers throughout history have taken advantage of off-season plant growth to enhance their next year’s crops. These plants, called cover crops, are beneficial in many ways, including protection against weed infestation and soil erosion, as well as feed for farm animals.