Indiana growers have shown increased interest in utilizing cover crops in our corn and soybean production systems over the last decade. Marcelo Zimmer and Bill Johnson, Purdue weed specialists, have also noted there has been increased use of soil residual herbicides to help manage herbicide-resistant weeds such as marestail (horseweed), waterhemp, and giant ragweed. Read more in this article from KPC News.

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.

Lessons learned from field scale cover crop trials have transitioned to a watershed scale and continue to show the system’s benefits in controlling nitrogen loss. Shalamar Armstrong, Purdue University assistant professor of soil conservation and management in the Department of Agronomy, is a co-investigator with Illinois State University faculty in the Lake Bloomington watershed trials. Read more in this article from AgriNews.

If you raise corn and soybeans, cover cropping could help you increase profits, but not right away, according to Rob Myers, regional director of Extension programs for the USDA-NIFA North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program. Myers is with University of Missouri. He presented “The Bottom Line with Cover Crops: Evaluating Their Economic Impact on Corn and Soybean Production” as a recent webinar hosted by Purdue University Center for Food and Agriculture Business, Cornell University Cooperative Extension, American Farmland Trust, Wood Soil & Water Conservation District and IPM Institute.

The Midwest Cover Crops Council has introduced a new website design, making it easier for users to find resources and access the site on mobile technology.