by Tony Bailey

Now is a great time to assess if you got what you wanted out of your cover crops last year. Just like growing cash crops, growing covers takes some planning and effort. Give them the best chances for success.

Here are problems you may discover and how to address them going forward:

Poor stands. Comments about below-average stands were common across Indiana both last fall and this spring. A drier summer and fall in 2023 could have increased the potential of leftover herbicides from previous weed control applications. If you are attempting to include cover crops into your cropping system, it is important to pay attention to potential herbicide carryover. Dry weather also impacted germination and growth.

Winter-kill? Maybe not. You planted cover crop species such as oats and radishes, expecting them to winter-kill — they always have before. However, they didn’t this past year. Hopefully, warmer winters like the one we just experienced do not get in the way of this tried-and-true winter-kill approach.

You also need to pay closer attention to cover crop varieties. Which ones germinate faster in the fall? Which ones experience more fall growth, and which ones experience more spring growth? Which ones winter-kill all the time? Which ones are better to crimp, and which ones put out more biomass?

Related:5 tips for good cover crop stand

Yellow cereal rye. Just like any small grain, you hope your covers are dark green and lush. How many times have you seen a cereal rye cover crop in the fall look yellow and pale? Maybe, cereal rye needs a little — emphasis on “little” — boost of nitrogen to start or to keep it going. You hope cover crops are scavenging for leftover nutrients from the previous cash crop. But at what point should you also be revising your thought process about how to make them more successful?

If you are planting cereal rye ahead of soybeans and that rye is going into a heavy carbon source, like cornstalks, are those stalks tying up nitrogen and making it less available to the cereal rye? Don’t use this as an excuse to fully fertilize your cereal rye cover crop like you would a 90-bushel wheat crop. But this warrants more thought and maybe a few test strips.

Weed control. If you were hoping for some weed control, did you get it? Biomass is the most important piece for this, and if you did not accumulate at least 2,500 pounds per acre of biomass at planting, then you likely didn’t get improved weed control. Plant earlier and/or bump up seeding rates to improve biomass and the potential for weed control. The more biomass you have, the better the weed control results.

Your cover crop is as important as your cash crop. Prior to giving up on cover crops after a tough year, give them the same assessment and support you would your cash crops. Work on what ails your covers, and they and your soil will thank you.

Bailey is state conservation agronomist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Indiana. He writes on behalf of the Indiana Conservation Partnership.