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Cover crops absorbing excess rain
A longtime user of cover crops says the infiltration benefits have helped prevent excess moisture stress in recent weeks.
John Burk farms within a mile of Michigan’s Saginaw Bay.
“Our soils are very flat where I’m at, they’re all lakebed soils,” he explains. “Erosion is a big problem and so is run off into our drainage ditches. We do have a few rivers we farm along, so soil health for me is a big thing.”
Burk says he’s been using cover crops for nearly 25 years to keep soil and nutrients in place and improve water quality.
“They help retain the water in a wet year,” he says. “We do not see a lot of water ponding in our fields like you do in other fields where there’s not very many cover crops ever used. Our organic matter has increased probably a percent to a percent and a half since we’ve started doing this, and in return we’re getting higher yields.”
He says his cover crop mix includes radishes, winter peas, cereal rye, and barley depending on the crop rotation.
AUDIO: John Burk
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