Cover crops are promoted as a valuable practice to reduce erosion and nutrient loss while improving soil health. Incorporating this practice into current production systems can be challenging. Read more in this article from the Soybean Research & Information Network.

Cover crops reduce nitrogen effluent in water and increase soil carbon over time, thereby providing environmental benefits, which may also translate into longer-term economic benefits. However, the costs associated with cover crops in the initial years usually exceed benefits accruing directly to farmers and landowners. Read more in this article from University of Illinois Extension.

Practical Farmers of Iowa recently released a cover-crop app that’s designed to help farmers locate cover-crop seed, services and suppliers in time for fall planting. The “Find Cover Crops” app is free to download and use.

In recent years, utilization of cover crops for fall forage after wheat and corn silage harvest has become more common, as opposed to letting fields lay fallow until planting of subsequent the spring crop. While these mixtures are not usually planted until August or early September, it is important to get a game plan ready in advance. Read more in this article from the Beatrice Daily Sun (Beatrice, NE).

An Iowa farmer is breaking up his rotation, reducing erosion and providing additional forage benefits for his cow-calf operation by planting cover crops. Aarik Deering, who farms near Postville with his wife, Haley, tried a unique sequence of cover crops on an 11-acre field near his home. Read more in this article from the Waukon Standard (Waukon, Iowa).

Cover crops—which are typically added to a crop rotation in between two commodity or forage crops—provide living, seasonal soil cover with a variety of on-farm benefits, such as increased soil moisture capacity, improved nutrient cycling, and weed suppression. Cover crops can also provide public benefits by reducing sediment loss, nutrient runoff, and leaching; reducing flooding; and storing carbon in the soil. Read more in this article from USDA Economic Research Service.

Cover crops can be a beneficial addition to most dairy farms. They can provide additional forage options, reduce erosion and runoff, improve soil health and allow for more time to apply manure. Read more in this article from Farm & Dairy.

There is considerable interest in selling carbon credits in agricultural circles. Unfortunately, many seem to have an exaggerated notion of how lucrative it may be for farmers or ranchers to sell carbon credits today. Read more in this article from University of Nebraska Extension.

According to a recent conservation survey, Indiana farmers have set a conservation record this year by planting an estimated 1.5 million acres of overwinter living covers, the largest amount ever recorded by an Indiana Conservation Partnership survey. Read more in this article from WBIW.

Why do fields have standing water? The answer lies in poor soil structure due to excess tillage, a lack of active carbon, reduced soil microbial life (beneficial mycorrhizal fungi), and a lack of live roots year-round. Read more in this article from the Crescent-News.