Cover crops are used to build soil organic matter, break up hard pans, provide a ground cover to reduce erosion and offer competition to weeds.

Which cover crop species you grow depends on:
Purpose to grow the crop
    Erosion mangement
    Weed Competion
    Nitrogen contribution
    Deep root penetration
    Adding organic matter and carbon to the soil
    Provide a living multch for your next crop

What time of year are  you growing the cover
    Frost seeded (Feb or March)
    Spring/Early Summer
    Fall

How you want to manage it to incorporate into soil
    Frost Killed
    Cultivate and incorporate
    Crimping to break stems to begin break down (no-till)

How long do you want it to grow
    Good cover over the winter
    Quick cover for early spring
    Short-term coverage in the summer
    Cover with opportunity to harvest for animals and organic matter

Click on Links for Cover Crop Resources

• Cover Crop Choices for Michigan
  
• Cover Crops for Vegetable Systems in Michigan
• Cover Crop Fact Sheet
• Advanced Cover Crop Systems
• Mixtures of Legume & Grass Summer Cover Crops for Integrated Weed and Soil Management by Daniel Brainard
• Identifying the Factors Affecting Cover Crop Performance in Row Crops Under Organic Management by Alexandra Kravchenko
• Oil Seed Radish as a Cover crop (Biofumigation)
  
• Mustard as a Cover Crop (Biofumigation)
• Slurry seeding a cover crop  (MSU)
• Annual Ryegrass as a cover crop
• Organic Fresh Market Tomato Yield Response to Rye and Hairy Vetch Cover Crops with or without Compost by Mathieu Ngouajio
• Critical Considerations in Managing Nematodes with Potential Trap and Cover Crops by Haddish Melakeberhan
• Using Cover Crops to Catch Nitrogen?
• Attributes of Cover Crops in Vegetable Systems by Anne Verhallen
• Biofumigant Cover Crops in Intensive Vegetable Production Systems by Mathieu Ngouaijo
• Nutrient Management Using Cover Crops by Darryl Warncke
• Role of Cover Crops in Soil Health and Root Disease Management by George Abawi
• Cover Crop Mixtures for Integrated Weed and Nitrogen Management by Dan Brainard
• Practical Uses of Compost
• Manure Credits (amount of N in different manures)
• Attracting Beneficial Insects with Native Flowering Plants
• Native Bees as Pollinators
• Developing New Low-input No-till Systems Using Cover Crops by Dale Mtch
  
• THE NO-TILL + PAGE
• Organic no-till for vegetable production?
• Year 2006 is breakthrough for organic no-till corn yield; tops standard organic for first time at Rodale Institute
• New reasons to perfect organic no-till
• Choosing cover crops for no-till organic soybeans
• Choosing the best cover crops for your organic no-till vegetable system
• Organic no-till with cover crop roll-down is viable in Kentucky research
• Perfecting organic no-till systems nationwide
• Organic no-till research spreading across the Midwest
• Researchers roll out the details of 2006 no-till organic corn numbers

Mathieu Ngouajio, an Associate Professor of Horticulture here at M.S.U., taught us about biofumigant cover crops in his talk.

Darryl Warncke, a professor and extension specialist in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences here at M.S.U., gave a talk about nutrient management using cover crops.

George Abawi, a professor of Plant Pathology at Cornell University's New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, gave a presentation on cover crops' role in soil health and root disease management.

Daniel Brainard, an assistant professor of Horticulture here at M.S.U., spoke to us about cover crop mixtures for integrated weed and nitrogen managment.