value of cover crops

The Value of Cover Crops

2014 and beyond

Joel GruverWIU Agriculture

J-gruver@wiu.edu

Ever seen anything like this?

Champaign Cty, IL

How about this?

This is not your grandfather’sCC planting equipment!

Sciota, IL

1922

Unprecedented farmer interest has been a key driver of the

cover crop revolution

1 week

Farmer to farmer communication about CCs facilitated by the internet and digital

cameras has stoked the fire

2012 – SARE Survey Results

Seed vendors have have played a key role in the CC revolution

How much is good

technical support worth to farmers?

http://www.greencoverseed.com/

Q. Which cover crops collect/remove nitrogen (N) the quickest or most efficiently? Q: How do I determine which cover crops are best suited for my soils and typography? Q. What is the carbon-nitrogen penalty, meaning how many units of carbon to how many units of nitrogen? How do I account for that? Q. I am just starting to grow cover crops. Which ones are easier to start with? Which ones should I stay away from? Q. Can I plant cover crops on fields in continuous corn? Q: Which cover crops are better for weed control? Q. We’ve had trouble getting a good stand of cover crops the last two years. Last year, we planted cereal rye and radishes on the corn ground going into soybeans. We planted cereal rye, radish and crimson clover with a plane on ground going into corn. Our fields are in northeast St. Clair County. Q. A Monmouth farmer asks, “Is there a better product and/or faster working product than what I’m doing if the rye has any size to it? Burndown of annual rye is frustrating and slow. I was told to always use Roundup 32-44 oz., 1 pt. 24-D, A.M.S. on the first trip. Then the second trip put down my residual. Sometimes with the wet and busy spring, it is tough to fit in. I want to keep a cover crop on in the winter.” Q: When cover crops decompose, what amounts of nitrogen do they contribute back into the soil? Q: What should I consider about reliability of cover crop seed sources? What about seed mixes?

Cover crop FAQ on FARMWEEKNOW.COM

Each Q is answered by multiple IL CC specialists

No chapter on cover crop economics !

+30

~200 profiles since 2008

What role should CCAs play in cover crop

decision making?

Well… what do you want your cover

crop to do for you?

What needs to be adjusted to find the best fit?

Where are the best places for cover crops on your farm?

When is the best time for establishment and termination?

Are you familiar with the term Precision Conservation?

Cover Crops

Adapted from Magdoff and Weil (2004)

CCs affect many agronomic factors simultaneously

Feed livestock

Control erosion

? ?

Increase management

Host pests

Become a weed

Prevent soil drying

Dry out soil excessively

Interfere w/ equipment

performanceSuppress crop

growth

Tie up N

Add cost

Cover Crops

Adapted from Magdoff and Weil (2004)

Not all effects are positive

Can you think of any agtechnologies that substitute

for management skill?

Cover crops require and reward management more than broadly adapted technologies

Wow...cover crops are not idiot-proof!

Miguez, F.E. and G.A. Bollero. 2005. Review of corn yield response under winter cover cropping systems using meta-analytic methods. Crop Science. 45:2318-2329.

Carlson, S. 2013. Winter rye cover crop effect on grain crop yields: Year 4. Practical Farmers of Iowa. Ames, Iowa.

#1 way to make cover crops pay!!!

EQIP CSP

Material costs•seed

•inoculant•herbicide•fertilizer

Operational costs•establishing •terminating

•managing residues

DIRECT COSTS OF CC

+20 lbs N/a

Preceded by spring planted radish

Field operation IA* IL IN* MO*

Fertilizer buggy 4.15 (1.50-7.50)

4.72 (3.07-6.37) 4.97 (3-15) fert6.02 (3.50-15)

fert+seedHarrowing 8.10 (4-

12.50)6.78 (3-12)

Cultipacking 6.55 (3-10) 8.50 (5-15)

Broadcast w/ ATV 10.35 (8-12) 7.44 (3-12.50)

Conv. grain drill 13 (7.50-20) 11.40 15.89 (13.63-18.15) s

13 (8-24) sg14.09 (10-24) gc

No-Till grain drill 15.35 (12-25) 14.60 14.47 (10.80-18.14)

14.80 (10-24) s14.25 (5-25) sg

Air seeder 16.40

Per acre costs of cover crop planting operations based on custom rate surveys

Costs Program 1 Program 2 Program 3 Program 4Seed 11.25 7.50 11.25 9.00

Seeding operation 4.15 15.00 10.00 10.00Seed incorporation 6.50

Herbicide 2.00 2.00Termination

operation6.50 6.50

Total 30.40 31.00 21.25 19.00

Examples of total cover crop management programs ($/ac)

Program 1

Seed: 90 lbs/ac cereal rye

Seeding operation: spread w/fertilizer buggy

Seed incorporation: rolling stalk chopper

Herbicide: 24 oz. glyphosate

Termination operation: 90’ boom spray rig

Program 3

Seed: 90 lbs of cereal rye

Seed bed preparation: none

Seeding operation: aerial seeding

Herbicide: no added cost, burn-down standard

Termination operation: no added cost, burn-down standard

Program 2

Seed: 60 lbs/ac cereal rye

Seed bed preparation: none

Seeding operation: no-till drill

Herbicide: 24 oz. glyphosate

Termination operation: 90’ boom spray rig

Program 4

Seed: 3 bushels of bin-run oats

Seed bed preparation: none

Seeding operation: aerial seeding

Herbicide: none – winter-kill

Termination operation: none – winter-kill

IA and IL Aerial Applicator Survey (May-June 2010)

Name Location Experience w/CC Cost

Cady Aerial Spray Rock Falls, IL

no exp., no customer

interest $8.00/a norm app $8.50/a cc

Benoit Aerial

Spraying Kankakee, IL turnips and rye $8.00/a norm app $10.00/a cc

Franks Flying

Service Morrison, IL ryegrass and c. rye $8.00/a norm app $10.00/a cc

Reeds Fly-on

Farming Mattoon, IL

yes, c. rye, small part

of business $8.00/a norm app $12.00/a cc

Killiam Flying

Service Carlinville, IL

rye, wheat on beans,

rye on corn$8.00/a norm app $10.00/ac

or 10/lb

Curless Flying

Service Astoria, IL ryegrass and turnips $8-15.00/a all app.

Klein Flying

Service

St. Francisville,

IL annual rye and turnips~$12.50/a cc, $9.00/a liquid

app

Agriflite Services Wakarusa, IN rye, wheat, ryegrass ave $15.00/a for cc app.

Al's Aerial

Spraying Ovid, MI rye and wheat$10-15.00/a cc $10.00/a

liquid

IL CC Business Directory

?

Opportunities for planting cover crops

• Dormant seeding early or late winter• Frost seeding• In the spring

• When planting summer crops• Prevent plant scenarios• Before canopy closure

• After small grains• After vegetables

• After seed corn or silage corn• Aerial or high clearance seeding into standing crops in late

summer/early fall as canopy opens• After early corn/bean grain harvest

• After full season corn/bean grain harvest

PSUinterseeder

crimson clover and

annual ryegrass are very shade

tolerant

West Union, IA

I run a delayed burn down..... Usually mid to late May. I have switched back to older chems..... I miss the Callisto, we’re supposed to only get a few weeks residual, but 2yrs ago I seeded some clover every week tilAugust..... In August, still fried clover after emergence. With that said, I did have a bunch of clover pop the next spring, just doubt I got much benefit from it..... Since it showed up about the week I sprayed.

This is how you begin!

Corvus Atrazine

Flexstar

Lexar Halex

WIU student project

Ghosts of cover crops past: quantifying the effects of cover crops on subsequent crop-weed-soil interactions

http

://agroeco

logyu

nh

.blo

gspo

t.com

/20

13

/08

/stud

ent-research

-usin

g-ph

ytom

eter-to.h

tml

With hairy vetch, a rule of thumb is to cut a 4-foot-by-4-foot area and weigh it. Then

multiply the weight by 25 to calculate total nitrogen produced. Figure half of that is

available to crop in next 60 days. If the vetch is tilled into soil, more nitrogen is available sooner.

Cover crops should not be viewed as the missing puzzle piece(s) in current cropping systems!

Perennial-based

crop rotations

Perennial bio-energy cropsPermanent pasture systems

Winter cover crops

RY

E

…while also improving soil

health

Crop Fence row

Same soil type and landscape position

Students in my Soil Properties class just finished analyzing paired soils from their farms

< -- Spring

Next fall -->

Some things are priceless

WIU Organic Research farm

Student’s home farm