Cover crop connection - Articles

Cover Crop Connection

Conventional Tillage vs. Cover Crops & No-Till: Rainfall Simulation

By Mackane Vogel posted on January 19, 2024 | Posted in Product Innovations & Introductions

At last week’s 32nd Annual National No-Tillage Conference in Indianapolis, I caught up with USDA’s soil health specialist for the state of Indiana, Amanda Kautz. Check out this simulation of a heavy rainfall, and how a conventionally tilled field responds to the rainfall compared to a field with no-till and cover crops.

Cover Crop Connection

Planting 2 Rows of Cereal Rye & 1 Row of Corn

By Mackane Vogel posted on January 5, 2024 | Posted in Product Innovations & Introductions

Mackane Vogel here, with this week’s cover crop connection. I had the opportunity to visit with Brandon, Minnesota farmer John Ledermann and check out his unique strategy for planting cereal rye and corn.

Cover Crop Connection

Understanding the Role of Cover Crop Root Exudates

By Mackane Vogel posted on December 15, 2023 | Posted in Product Innovations & Introductions

Good morning, from Alexandria, Minn., Mackane Vogel here, with this week’s cover crop connection. I’m here at the Soil Management Summit and this morning we are going through some live demonstrations. Why don’t we check in with Anna Cates of University of Minnesota Extension for a live cover crop demonstration.

Cover Crop Connection

Cover Crop Connection: Controlling Waterhemp with Cereal Rye

By Mackane Vogel posted on December 1, 2023 | Posted in Product Innovations & Introductions

Cereal rye can be used to suppress weeds. At this Brooklyn, Wisconsin, field day, Jose Nunes, a graduate student at weed scientist Rodrigo Werle’s UW-Madison research and extension lab, shared his findings about how much cereal rye biomass is needed for optimal weed suppression.

Cover Crop Connection

Norm the AI Agronomist — Quick Cover Crop Help

By Noah Newman posted on November 17, 2023 | Posted in Product Innovations & Introductions

Charles Baron with Farmers Business Network told me all about the organization’s latest innovation, Norm the AI Agronomist. Norm is an online tool that uses artificial intelligence to scan the internet and agronomic research to answer questions about agronomy, farm management practices and more.

Cover Crop Connection

Montag’s Cover Crop+ — Designed for Smaller Seeds

By Noah Newman posted on November 3, 2023 | Posted in Product Innovations & Introductions

Roger Murdock, director of sales & marketing for Montag Manufacturing, took some time to show me one of the company’s newest cover crop innovations. Check out this clip of Murdock talking about the key features of Montag’s Cover Crop Plus and what makes it ideal for planting cover crops of all different species, especially those with smaller seeds.

Cover Crop Connection

Using Cover Crops for Root Structure & Residue

By Noah Newman posted on October 20, 2023 | Posted in Product Innovations & Introductions

Gary Zimmer, a grower in Spring Green, Wis., who some refer to as the “father of biological farming,” hosted a field day on his farm over the summer and explained why soil fertility has to involve the exchange of nutrients in a carbon biological cycle. According to Zimmer, too many farmers simply lay fertilizer on top of their land and fail to connect their nutrients to a carbon source. Here is Gary talking about his unique approach to cover crops and how they help with soil fertility on his farm.

Cover Crop Connection

Conventional vs Regenerative Ag Research Study

By Noah Newman posted on October 6, 2023 | Posted in Product Innovations & Introductions

Jim Stute, an independent research agronomist and farmer member of the watershed protection committee of Racine County in Wisconsin, is helping to lead a long-term comparison of conventional tillage vs. no-till and cover crops. After just 1 year, the study still has a long way to go, but initially, Stute is seeing a 26.3 bushel per acre yield advantage with conventional. And most importantly, Stute says what he thinks they can do next year to shift those results.

Cover Crop Connection

Cover Crops Pay Off After Heavy Rains

By Noah Newman posted on September 22, 2023 | Posted in Product Innovations & Introductions

Today we’re talking with Jeff Schluckbier, who grows corn, sugar beets and wheat in Tuscola County, Mich. Jeff uses sunflowers, radish, clover, oats, cereal rye and Austrian winter peas. He says cover crops are paying off big time in his 7,500-acre operation, especially during heavy rainfall events.

Cover Crop Connection

First Look: Electric Cover Crop Seeder

By Mackane Vogel posted on September 1, 2023 | Posted in Product Innovations & Introductions

As always, cover crops are a hot topic at this year’s Farm Progress Show. I caught up with Andy Unverferth, who told me about a new cover crop seeder with an electric drive metering system.