Cover Crop Connection

Ray McCormick’s Conservation Buffer

By Mackane Vogel posted on November 15, 2024 | Posted in Product Innovations & Introductions

Earlier this week we paid another visit to this year’s Conservation Ag Operator Fellow, Ray McCormick in Vincennes, Ind., and one thing about Ray is that even when it’s the “off season,” he’s still thinking ahead for next season and doing what he can with cover crops to improve his corn crop for next year.

Cover Crop Connection

Aigen Shows Off New Weeding Technology at FIRA USA

By Mackane Vogel posted on November 1, 2024 | Posted in Product Innovations & Introductions

I’m in Sacramento, Calif., this week at FIRA USA and we’re just going to get right into it. Why don’t you take a look at some of the newest and most exciting Ag technology on display at this year’s conference.

Cover Crop Connection

Make Farming Fun Again with Cover Crops & Regenerative Agriculture

By Mackane Vogel posted on October 18, 2024 | Posted in Seeding Practices

No-Till Legend Steve Groff says regenerative agriculture allows him to have fun with cover crop mixes and build soil health at the same time. Here’s Groff, waist deep in his cover crop field, to tell you a little bit more about his cover crop mix of hairy vetch and black oats and his regenerative ag philosophy.

Cover Crop Connection

Cover Crop Tactics on Display at Soul of the Soil Conference

By Mackane Vogel posted on October 4, 2024 | Posted in Seeding Practices

This week we are in beautiful Galena, Ill., and we got a choice to check out the first ever Soul of the Soil Conference. This is put on by the Fields of Sinsinawa and we are actually going to toss it off to one of the presenters to talk a little bit about what’s going on in the world of cover crops at the first annual soul of the Soil Conference.

Cover Crop Connection

Dialing Back Cover Crop Seeding Rate for Higher Efficiency

By Mackane Vogel posted on September 20, 2024 | Posted in Seeding Practices, Product Innovations & Introductions

Vincennes, Ind. No-Till Living Legend Ray McCormick has a unique and efficient way of seeding cover crops with his draper and air seeder. Here’s the Conservation Ag Operator Fellow discussing some of the specs that make his setup so effective.

Cover Crop Connection

Agri-Spray Drones Can Seed Cover Crops

By Mackane Vogel posted on September 3, 2024 | Posted in Seeding Practices, Product Innovations & Introductions

One of the coolest parts of the 2024 Farm Progress Show is checking out the in-field demos. Earlier I had the chance to go to the Agri-Spray Drones tent where they were flying drones. Here’s how you can use drones to seed cover crops.

Cover Crop Connection

Being Intentional with Cover Crops in Your Farm System

By Mackane Vogel posted on August 16, 2024 | Posted in Seeding Practices

At last week’s National Strip-Tillage Conference in Madison, Wis., I had a chance to catch up with Gary Zimmer, also known as the father of biological farming, who was attending the conference in hopes of learning more about how strip-till can fit into his biological farming practices.

Cover Crop Connection

Waterhemp Management Research Plots

By Mackane Vogel posted on August 2, 2024 | Posted in Seeding Practices

At an upcoming waterhemp management plot tour on O’Brien Family Farm in Brooklyn, Wis., I’ll be hearing from Rodrigo Werle, weed scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, as well as others as they walk us through their weed suppression research.

Cover Crop Connection

An Accidental Cover Crop Experiment

By Mackane Vogel posted on July 19, 2024 | Posted in Seeding Practices

Georgetown, Del., no-tiller Jay Baxter was planning on conducting a cover crop experiment with oats, but when Mother Nature got in the way, he quickly pivoted to another idea for a different type of cover crop experiment.

Cover Crop Connection

Does It Pay to Add Winter Peas to a Cover Crop Mix?

By Mackane Vogel posted on July 3, 2024

Winter peas can be a great addition to a cover crop mix for many growers, but the cost of these seeds can be high and the return on investment doesn’t always pay off. USDA plant research geneticist Lisa Kissing Kucek is in Madison, Wis., at the forage research center where she and other researchers have been breeding winter peas for 7 years in a nationwide cover crop breeding network to study spring vigor, winter vigor, biomass and other benefits of various cover crop species.