COVER CROPPING STRATEGIES

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COVER CROPPINGSTRATEGIES

• Vern Grubinger

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COST
POTENTIAL BENEFITS
POTENTIAL RISKS
COVER CROP DECISION
EQUIPMENT
SOIL, WEATHER
TIMING
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POTENTIAL BENEFITS

• Control erosion
• Suppress weeds
• Add nitrogen
• Build organic matter
• Reduce compaction
• Scavenge nitrogen
• Create beneficial insect habitat

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POTENTIAL RISKS

• Poor germination / growth
• Introduce weed seeds
• Tie up nitrogen
• Delay tillage / planting
• Harbor slugs, rodents
• Attract deer
• Create insect pest habitat

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Good rotation plans include cover crops!
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How long should land be rested?
How much land do you have to work with?
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COVER CROP SYSTEMS

• Winter and/or Spring Covers (Cool)
• Summer Smother Crops (Warm)
• Year-Long Cover Crop (Fallow)
• Interseeding / Undersowing (Strips)

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COMMON COVER CROPS

• Cool Season
• rye, oats, wheat, field pea, hairy vetch
• Warm Season
• buckwheat, sorghum-Sudangrass, Japanese millet
• cowpea, soybean
• Whole Season / Perennial
• clovers, alfalfa, mixed grass hay

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REDUCE SOIL EROSION WINTER COVER rye, ryegrass,
oats, wheatetc!
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Winter Rye
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Oats
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Winter Wheat
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SUPPLY NITROGEN alfalfa, clovers, field pea,
hairy vetch cowpea, soybeancrotolaria,
sesbania, etc.
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Field Pea
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Field Pea and Triticale
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Hairy Vetch (winter annual)
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Hairy Vetch plus Rye
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Hairy Vetch plus Oats
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Frost-seeded red clover
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SMOTHER SUMMER WEEDS buckwheat, Sudangrass,
Japanese millet cowpea, soybean, clovers, hairy
vetch?
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Sorghum-Sudangrass
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Japanese millet
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Summer-seeded vetch
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Sweet Clover
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Soybeans on 9/15, sown 5/15
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Cowpeas on 9/15, sown 5/15
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Sesbania on 9/15, sown 5/15
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SUPPRESS PLANT PARASITIC NEMATODES Sudangrass,
rapeseed, mustard
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Mustard
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BUILD SOIL ORGANIC MATTER ryegrass, rye,
sorghum-Sudangrass, sweet clover
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Trafficability ryegrasses, fescues, white clover
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crabgrass???
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Combinations Oats peas sudex red clover
vetch rye
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CROPPING SYSTEM
COVER CROPS
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Annual intercropping
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Annual strip cropping
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Cover crop rotation in permanent beds
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Cover crop rotation and permanent wheel tracks
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COVER CROP ADVICE

• Integrate cover crops into a rotation plan
• Prioritize the benefits you want from covers
• Rest land as much as you can in covers
• Always grow winter cover crops after cash crops
• Try some new cover crop species or technique

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MANAGING COVER CROPS 20 postpaid
to NE-SARE Hills Building Carrigan
Drive Burlington VT 05405
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www.uvm.edu/vtvegandberry