Cover Crop Seed And Advisement Available At Ag Partners
Oct 18, 2019
Now that farmers in the area have started to gain some footing into harvest this fall, cover crops have been a growing topic of discussion. Whether it is when to plant, what to plant, or if the effort and costs are beneficial, farmers are looking for answers.
When done correctly, incorporating cover crops into a rotation helps with weed suppression, increases residue in low yielding areas, rebuilds soil structures after wet years, reduces soil erosion, and increases water retention in drought conditions.
When it comes to deciding what cover crops to plant, Ag Partners seed lead, Kevin Bergman, suggests rye. “For many years winter wheat was a popular crop to change the crop rotation from corn, milo and soybeans. The economics of a cash wheat crop are not what they used to be. Rye or triticale can provide many of those benefits offered by wheat and still allow for a more profitable crop to be grown that year,” said Bergman.
In addition to offering an alternative to wheat’s low profitability, rye can also be successfully planted as late as Thanksgiving, or later, if the ground isn’t frozen. Later planting reduces spring growth, but the rye crop will still establish and grow in late winter much better than wheat.
This year’s wet conditions have led farmers across the Midwest to deal with an additional struggle: what to do with prevented-plant acreage. Ryan Wolf with WinField® United wrote an article over the summer about managing prevented-plant acres and planning for 2020. The article, titled “Don’t Lose Ground With Poor Management On Prevented-Plant Acres” touches on cover crops as a method to protect and manage ground until it can planted in the spring.
Something to keep in mind for 2020 is the other added benefit of planting cover crops: the possibility of financial assistance for input costs. Some areas offer WRAPS programs for planting cover crops to encourage soil conservation. We are past the deadline for these programs in 2019 but watch for announcements next year to take advantage of those opportunities.
Talk to your Ag Partners agronomist about utilizing cover crops as part of your fall land management and contact our Seneca Warehouse location for rye seed at 785-336-3510.
When done correctly, incorporating cover crops into a rotation helps with weed suppression, increases residue in low yielding areas, rebuilds soil structures after wet years, reduces soil erosion, and increases water retention in drought conditions.
When it comes to deciding what cover crops to plant, Ag Partners seed lead, Kevin Bergman, suggests rye. “For many years winter wheat was a popular crop to change the crop rotation from corn, milo and soybeans. The economics of a cash wheat crop are not what they used to be. Rye or triticale can provide many of those benefits offered by wheat and still allow for a more profitable crop to be grown that year,” said Bergman.
In addition to offering an alternative to wheat’s low profitability, rye can also be successfully planted as late as Thanksgiving, or later, if the ground isn’t frozen. Later planting reduces spring growth, but the rye crop will still establish and grow in late winter much better than wheat.
This year’s wet conditions have led farmers across the Midwest to deal with an additional struggle: what to do with prevented-plant acreage. Ryan Wolf with WinField® United wrote an article over the summer about managing prevented-plant acres and planning for 2020. The article, titled “Don’t Lose Ground With Poor Management On Prevented-Plant Acres” touches on cover crops as a method to protect and manage ground until it can planted in the spring.
Something to keep in mind for 2020 is the other added benefit of planting cover crops: the possibility of financial assistance for input costs. Some areas offer WRAPS programs for planting cover crops to encourage soil conservation. We are past the deadline for these programs in 2019 but watch for announcements next year to take advantage of those opportunities.
Talk to your Ag Partners agronomist about utilizing cover crops as part of your fall land management and contact our Seneca Warehouse location for rye seed at 785-336-3510.