Warm season cover crops grow in the summer but die with the first frost while cool season species generally survive the winter. Major categories include brassicas, grasses, legumes, and other broadleaves with over 60 species. Read more in this article from Ohio's Country Journal.

If you’re on Twitter, you’ve likely seen a lot of buzz around wide-row corn (44-inch or 60-inch) with cover crops seeded between rows. The goal is to space the corn rows out to provide more light for the cover crops to establish and put on some biomass for grazing, attract pollinators or to add diversity to the system. Read more in this article from AgWeek.

Voles can be an ongoing problem for farmers, but planting cover crops can actually help deter the pests, according to this week’s podcast from Hoosier Ag Today featuring two Purdue University masters students. Find out effective predators for naturally dealing with voles, why voles don’t like brassicas, and why to avoid nitrogen fixing cover crops.

Given the current dry conditions and the prospect that this may continue you may think that the last thing I would be wanting to talk about is planting cover crops. But cover crops can provide as many benefits in dry periods as they can wet periods, especially in fallow systems where there will not be a cash crop planted until next spring. Read more in this article from the Dodge City Daily Globe (Dodge City, KS).

Due to the increased demand for efficiency, farmers have had to pull more resources from the soil to make sure their production practices are as efficient as possible. The extra demand for resources from the soil has led to a decrease in overall soil health. Read more in this article from the Herald Journal News (Logan, UT).

Whether by airplane, spreader or toolbar, interseeding cover crops into cash crops is a trend that appears to be growing in popularity as a way for growers to accommodate weather challenges, increase crop diversity and boost soil health more efficiently. The Cover Crop Benchmark Study released this year by Cover Crop Strategies details some of the first in-depth data available in the ag industry on interseeding practices for U.S. farmers, including equipment utilized and planting timings that work for growers.

The prairies of south central Montana are really starting to come to life. Cali Rooney and her husband Tyler have been busy planting all of their warm season cover crops. These particular cover crop varieties must be planted in soil that consistently stays above 50 degrees, ideally. Read more in this article from the Lincoln Journal Star.

In 2016, Shawn Freeland to make a difficult decision. The 45-year-old Caputa, S.D., rancher attended a Grassland Coalition Grazing School. In addition to reducing his stocking density on rangeland, he no-till drilled a diverse cover crop mix on irrigated hay acres. Read more in this article from Farm Forum (Aberdeen, SD).

Overwintering cover crops can be planted in early to mid-fall and can provide soil cover, nitrogen production, and weed suppression. Find out more in this video from University of Arkansas Extension about what cover crop species are best for overwintering, which species produce large quantities of biomass, how to ensure cover crops enable good nitrogen fixation, and more.

In this Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction podcast from the Illinois Corn Association, host Todd Gleason from University of Illinois interviews three cover crop experts on managing covers.