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Wisconsin farmer-led watershed group saves money on cover crop inputs
This cover crop including rye planted in mid-September became well established before Wisconsin’s October 2018 freeze.
A leader of a farmer-led watershed group says producers save a lot of money when planting cover crops by leaving the USDA out of the plan.
John Eron farms near Stevens Point, Wisconsin. He says, “A person going to their NRCS, FSA office and wanting to try something like cover crops, they would have to use a certified seed.”
Eron tells Brownfield without the red tape and extra regulations, the producer-led groups are implementing soil-saving measures for a lot less money. “A lot of the rye, you know, we’re buying at three to four dollars a bushel. (It’s) bin-run rye versus a certified seed, (which) I’ve heard guys tell me sell as high as $15.00 a bushel.”
And, Eron says besides rye, farmers in the group are using other low-cost cover crops with positive results. “We’ve had many in the past that had some oats or some barley that was, you know, something that the local co-op really didn’t want to buy because it’s not something they typically sell, and they were able to utilize that as their cover crop.”
Eron talked with Brownfield during a field day evaluating the 2018 cover crop efforts by the Farmers of Mill Creek Watershed group.
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