Planting green - Articles

Are Your Covers Ready for Winter?

By Sarah Hill posted on December 8, 2020

At the 2020 Farm Science Review earlier this August, a team of Extension educators planted multiple cover crop species, including forage turnips, clover, ryegrass, hairy vetch, radish, canola, regular turnips, balansa clover, sorghum, and oats. The team will be monitoring the cover crops over the winter to see how each species, except for the clovers, breaks down.

Farming Ugly

August 21, 2020 | Posted in Seeding Practices

Source: Lancaster Farming

Some of our fields looked really scruffy, like stands of forgotten, overgrown brush that had given up the ghost and turned that pale, beige color of dead foliage we become so familiar with, and bored of, through the long months of winter. Only the early signs of small, emerging spikes of greenery in rows suggested that the fields had not been forgotten. Read more in this article from Lancaster Farming.

[Podcast] Tips for Planting into Heavy Cover Crops

If wet spring weather has kept you from being able to plant, you may end up planting green into heavy cover crops, according to Pennsylvania cover crop expert Steve Groff. (Courtesy of Cover Crop Innovators)

June 17, 2020 | Posted in Seeding Practices

If wet spring weather has kept you from being able to plant, you may end up planting green into heavy cover crops, according to Pennsylvania cover crop expert Steve Groff. (Courtesy of Cover Crop Innovators)

Consider Planting Green

June 15, 2020 | Posted in Termination

Source: Lancaster Farming

Those who did have the chance to burn down cover crops may notice the dead residue insulating the soil. This is excellent for soil conservation, traps excess moisture and slows evaporation, so soil takes longer to dry enough to be suitable for corn and soybean planting. Read more in this article from Lancaster Farming.

Planting Green Cover Crops into Cash Crops Can Be Successful

By Sarah Hill posted on June 11, 2020

Planting green has never been more popular. Growers’ interest in planting green is increasing, according to the results of the first-ever Cover Crop Benchmark Study conducted by Cover Crop Strategies.

Considerations for Planting Green

June 3, 2020 | Posted in Seeding Practices

Source: University of Nebraska Extension

An increasing number of growers are ‘planting green’ or have asked questions regarding this practice. ‘Planting green’ means the corn or soybean is planted directly into a growing cover crop (most often a small grain like rye or wheat) without killing it by herbicide or mechanical means first. Read more in this article from University of Nebraska Extension.

Illinois Farmer Gives Advice on Planting Green

May 20, 2020 | Posted in Seeding Practices

Source: Go Seed

While it’s not a new concept, an increasingly popular practice is to plant cash crops directly into living cover crops. The science behind it is sound – allowing producers to push the benefits of their cover crops to the max and take advantage of things like added organic matter and nutrient release.

Know When to Terminate Cover Crops

May 18, 2020 | Posted in Termination

Source: Lancaster Farming

One of the key aspects of growing a cover crop is to know when to kill it. You should have a cover crop control plan thought through before you plant in the fall. Read more in this article from Lancaster Farming.

[Podcast] Make More Green with Covers by Planting Green

In this week's podcast, fifth generation farmer Rick Clark from Indiana shares tips on planting green, a practice he's been using for the past 8 years.

March 30, 2020 | Posted in Seeding Practices

In this week's podcast, fifth generation farmer Rick Clark from Indiana shares tips on planting green, a practice he's been using for the past 8 years.

no-till-drill-converted-to-interseed-cover-crops-2016.jpg

Adding Organic ‘Muscle’ to Soils with an Aggressive Cover Cropping Routine

By mixing and matching cover crop varieties, Grant and Dawn Breitkreutz have boosted soil health and improved organic matter by up to 3 points in 10 years.

By Sarah Hill posted on March 30, 2020 | Posted in Grazing

Change is never easy. Sometimes, it can be just flat-out painful. Third-generation farmers Grant and Dawn Breitkreutz have been implementing big changes on their farm near Redwood Falls, Minn., for the past 2 decades.