While many herbicides have long cropping restrictions because they take a long time to break down, there are several herbicides that have a short half-life. Generally, herbicides like Sharpen (saflufenacil), 2-4D and Roundup products (glyphosate) break down fairly quickly in the soil and cause less problems with herbicide carryover.

By delaying roller-crimper termination of hairy vetch and cereal rye cover crops until they reach optimum reproductive stages, organic growers can enjoy weed suppression and avoid volunteer problems in cash crops.

A discussion in the Organic Grain Resource and Information Network (OGRAIN) email group started with a question about upgrading a drain grill to seed complex combinations of different-sized cover crop seeds, and from there, snowballed into a larger conversation about other farm equipment preferences and advice. 

Iowa farmers Jack Boyer and Dick Sloan wanted to learn about different strategies for incorporating cover crops on their farms: be it cover crop species other than winter small grains or seeding cover crops in the summer rather than post-harvest in the fall.