With growing interest in cover crops, it is important to understand how cover crops might impact soil fertility for the following cash crop. Nitrogen (N) provided by cover crop biomass may be used in the short-term by the following crop, and in the long-term through improving soil N content and reducing fertilizer input costs. Read more in this article from University of Nebraska Extension.

What would producers gain by visually examining the living soil that lies underneath their crops and grasslands? There could be problems with soil structure like erosion or root structures that grow horizontally rather than vertically due to compaction. Read more in this article from the Lincoln Journal Star.

Known for their ability to produce nitrogen, legumes actually partner with rhizobium bacteria to create or fix nitrogen through specialized organs in their roots called nodules. This unique relationship adds nitrogen back to the soil so it can be used as fertilizer by future crops. Read more in this article from the Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education (SARE) program.

High biomass cover crops are effective in controlling weeds in vegetable production, while contributing to higher produce yields, Auburn University researchers have found. In addition, pre-emergence herbicide applications can be eliminated from weed management programs in the presence of heavy residues from cover crop mixtures. Read more in this article from the Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education (SARE) program.

Some cover crops, coupled with soil solarization, can control soil-borne diseases in nursery field production of woody ornamentals, according to the results of a Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SSARE)-funded Tennessee State University study. Through a $15,000 SSARE On-Farm Research Grant, Fulya Baysal-Gurel of TSU’s Otis L. Floyd Nursery Research Center, and her colleagues assessed the effects of certain cover crops that belonged to the Brassicaceae family on soil-borne pathogen Phytophthora nicotianae in boxwoods. Read more in this article from SARE.

Soil organic matter (SOM) is an indicator of how healthy and productive a soil is and serves many important functions. The higher the SOM the better the soil is. Read more in this article from the Leavenworth Times (Leavenworth, KS).

The best management practice to reduce the resistant rootworm population is to rotate out of corn for at least one year. If that field is rotated to a non-host crop (e.g. alfalfa, rye, triticale, sorghum-sudangrass) in the following year, the larvae will die after hatching, and the population will be eliminated.

As small grain harvest moves along, some farmers will plant cover crops into those fields to do things such as improve soil condition, control weeds or provide fall grazing for livestock and wildlife. Before planting the cover crop seeds, South Dakota Department of Agriculture Plant Industry Program Manager Brenda Sievers reminds farmers to check the source of the seeds and to be sure a lab analysis has been done on them.

A few wheat fields scouted this summer were found with volunteer rye infested with ergot. It is becoming more common to see cereal rye being grown as a cover crop or for seed for the cover crop market. Read more in this article from South Dakota State University Extension.

A carefully crafted cover crop composition, manure management, precision agriculture and the right mix of soil additives can be a recipe for improved soil health. Cover crops require a thoughtful approach. Read more in this article from Lancaster Farming.