The Midwest Cover Crops Council (MCCC) is rolling out an improved cover crop selection tool that will help farmers make decisions. Users select their state/province and county and then select the goals they have for cover crops — erosion control, nitrogen scavenger, fighting weeds and providing forage, etc. Read more in this press release from Purdue University.

Anastasia Fyke doesn’t have time for millennials. Sort of. The fourth-generation buckwheat farmer from Manitoba (and a millennial herself) wants to help farmers transform agriculture from Canada’s sixth-largest greenhouse gas producer into a carbon sink. Read more in this article from The Humboldt Journal.

Results from a nearly 30-year ongoing study show that no-till agriculture produces improved crop yields over the long-term. The study shows two key results: Practicing no-till agriculture improves crop yield over time.

Harvest season is a busy time. There is so much for a grower to organize, manage and stay on top of that adding one more thing during the season — like seeding cover crops — may seem way too daunting.

As many farmers are getting ready to begin harvest, farmers who grow winter wheat are preparing to plant. There are many reasons why growers have been planting winter wheat in eastern Nebraska. Read more in this article from University of Nebraska Extension.

Although many growers may consider the “ideal” time to plant cover crops to be immediately after harvest, having snow on the ground is not a reason to give up on utilizing the benefits cover crops can offer. This is where frost seeding comes into play as a cover crop seeding method.

Farmers who make soil health a priority are more likely to rotate three or more crops and to graze livestock on cropland, according to a survey of producers in South Dakota, North Dakota and Nebraska. The survey examined why some agricultural producers prioritize soil health and how to encourage more producers to adopt these conservation practices, according to assistant professor Tong Wang of South Dakota State University’s Ness School of Management and Economics. Read more in this article from Newswise.

As we approach the fall cover crop planting season, the industry is starting to see shortages of a few different crops like radishes, hairy vetch and annual clovers due to the record amount of acreage that was planted last year as part of USDA’s prevent plant program. What we typically see in shortage situations is that seed will still be available to producers – however, it may be bottom of the bin in terms of quality and can carry a lot of risks. Read more in this article from Go Seed.

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.

Using spring seeded cover crops in sugar beets is a familiar practice for farmers, but many are asking about other ways to use cover crops in their system to accomplish different goals other than protecting sugar beet seedlings. Some are flying on a cover crop like cereal rye or barley prior to topping the beets, seeding smaller pre-harvest areas to help reduce erosion or seeding cereal rye post-harvest if time allows. Read more in this article from AgWeek.