Patience is key in growing cover crops

Chabella Guzman Author

08/30/2023 Added

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The University of Nebraska-Lincoln, West Central Research Extension and Education Center held its annual Water and Crops Field Day on Thursday, Aug. 24, in North Platte. One of the morning features was a Grower Panel on cover crops.

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[00:00:00.000]The University of Nebraska-Lincoln, West Central
[00:00:02.451]Research Extension and Education Center held its
[00:00:05.082]annual Water and Crops Field Day on Thursday,
[00:00:07.599]Aug. 24, in North Platte. One of the morning
[00:00:10.138]features was a Grower Panel on cover crops. The panel
[00:00:13.457]agreed producers looking at putting in cover crops
[00:00:16.268]should start small. Don Batie, a farmer in Dawson
[00:00:19.718]County, Neb. a member of the panel, grows irrigated
[00:00:23.556]corn, wheat, and soybeans and finds his
[00:00:25.828]cover crops perform best after a soybean crop.
[00:00:29.180]It was probably the second or third year we started
[00:00:32.700]growing cover crops. We noticed the next spring
[00:00:36.526]planting corn following soybeans, where we had the
[00:00:40.428]cover crops. The soil was softer, even though, we had
[00:00:44.584]the cover crops using moisture you'd think.
[00:00:48.099]We had better moisture for our corn to grow. And so that
[00:00:51.880]was when we really started intensifying trying to
[00:00:55.051]do it in. The other advantage is multiple species
[00:01:00.099]not just trying one species at a time. I think
[00:01:03.690]multiple species helps. Alex Rosa, Bayer Water Utilization
[00:01:07.755]Learning Center agronomist in Gothenburg, Neb., says
[00:01:10.950]implementing cover crops can bring about advantages.
[00:01:14.380]Whatever benefits you're looking at with cover
[00:01:16.806]crops you gotta be patient. Most of them will take
[00:01:19.559]years to build up, especially carbon, matter,
[00:01:25.435]and build fertility in general, that will take longer.
[00:01:29.056]But benefits, such as erosion control and weed
[00:01:32.025]suppression, and when I say weed suppression
[00:01:35.054]you should combine that with you pre and post
[00:01:38.072]herbicides. Those benefits can come in the first year.
[00:01:41.672]For producers in dryland areas, Rosa suggests
[00:01:44.482]radishes, grasses, and hairy vetch following soybeans.
[00:01:48.142]Batie and the other panelists advised patience in seeing the benefits
[00:01:52.502]of cover crops. I really hope to encourage
[00:01:55.007]people to try a few acres. And try doing it as
[00:01:59.070]part of an on-farm research trail with the
[00:02:01.194]University (Nebraska) Extension service. Because you need to
[00:02:04.475]see both with and without cover crops and document it
[00:02:07.909]with some extra research and numbers. To learn more about
[00:02:11.444]getting involved with on-farm research, go to this link
[00:02:14.675]on-farm-research.unl.edu/ and for more information on
[00:02:15.455]cover crops, go to this link cropwatch.unl.edu/cover-crops.

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Patience is key in growing cover crops

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