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Start small and ask questions when beginning cover crops

A Natural Resources Conservation Service agent says first-time cover croppers should start small and ask questions. 

Barry Bubolz works in northeastern Wisconsin, where it’s not easy to get some cover crops established before the frost.  He says after winter wheat or after corn silage, there is usually a good window to plant cover crops, and it doesn’t have to be just cereal rye.  “That can be based on our seeding rates, and if it’s early enough, maybe we can mix that winter cereal with oats or spring barley, and a portion of that is going to winterkill over the winter, and just make that challenge for next year’s crop not that big of a hurdle.”

Bubolz says soybeans can handle higher carbon, so grasses ahead of soybeans works well and legumes like clover help hold nitrogen for a future corn crop, but there is one cover crop farmers should not overuse, especially in front of soybeans. “There’s some data out there that shows that sunflowers can help promote white mold and so we usually, when we put sunflowers in a mix, we want to try and keep them down on a lower rate so maybe only a pound or two. With a pound or two, you still get that nice, showy sunflower out there. You still get the tap root that’s out there.”

Bubolz says farmers considering cover crops should ask agronomists, conservation agents, and their neighboring farmers what has worked well in their area.

In addition to his work with NRCS, Bubolz also works with the Lower Fox Demonstration Farms Network, which receives funding from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.

Bubolz spoke to Brownfield at the recent Wisconsin Water and Soil Health Conference in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin.