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Cover crops can help conserve soil
Tuesday, March 25, 2008

By Melissa Mussman

Agri News staff writer

FAIRMONT, Minn. -- Cover crops can help conserve soil.

Cover crops were one of the topics during a series of third-crop meetings hosted in Fairmont by Rural Advantage.

Grasses, legumes, forbs, and other herbaceous plants can be established for seasonal cover and conservation purposes, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Rye received plenty of interest.

"Rye is used as a cover crop because there is a potential for grazing, helps decrease soil erosion, prevents nitrogen leaching and overall increases soil quality," said Michael Kanter, a graduate student at the University of Minnesota.

Rye seems to be a good cover crop. One way to seed rye is by aerial seeding.

"By using winter crops such as rye, we are hoping to capture some of the excess water in spring that contains nutrients that would be beneficial to soil quality," said Jeremy Singer of the USDA. "We tend to have lots of water in spring and it drains very quickly without the presence of a root system. This way we can contain the water in the soil and also capture the nutrients and recycle them."

"There is a 60 percent reduction of nitrate content in water when rye is used as a cover crop, said Singer.

"Rye has also been shown to decrease nitrogen leaching by at least 15 percent," said Kanter.

The challenge is finding a good place to use a cover crop in a rotation while maintaining good yields and profitability.

If corn follows rye as a cover crop, farmers see a decrease in yields. On the other hand, if soybeans follow rye as a cover crop, farmers won't see yield reductions.

"It seems the most promising spot for rye as a cover crop in a rotation will be right after corn and before soybeans," said Kanter. "So, you plant it while the corn is still in the ground preferably during August to November.