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Cover crops working for central Illinois farmer

A central Illinois farmer is seeing the long-term benefits of cover crops.

Kris Reynolds, who farms in Montgomery County, says he’s utilized the practice for over a decade.

“It was kind of a way to reduce some chemical usage, you know, suppress weeds.”  He says, “I was no tilling soybeans, but I was also doing a fall burndown. And so, I just wanted to kind of replace that fall burndown with a cover crop.”

He tells Brownfield he’s realized many benefits from the system.

“You’re reducing erosion and there’s a lot of benefits that you necessarily can’t see, like keeping those nutrients in place.”  He says, “I just think overall, you know, I’m seeing a healthier soil system, seeing more resilience related to weather.”

Reynolds says the first step is determining where cover crops would be the most beneficial.

“I always tell guys to look at fields that have little more marginal soils.”  He says, “You know, maybe your lighter soils, or a little more rolling topography. Also, the opposite of that, fields that are really good, dark black soils that are tiled.  Those fields are typically easy to manage when it comes to, you know, terminating cover crops and getting cover crops established.”

He says winter is a good time to start planning the logistics for next fall’s cover crop planting.

Reynolds was named the 2024 Mike Plummer Environmental Award winner by the Illinois Corn Growers Association and spoke with Brownfield at the ICGA annual meeting in Bloomington.

AUDIO: Kris Reynolds – Illinois farmer