Cover crops: The key to tackling agronomic challenges

There are a lot of questions when it comes to starting with cover crops. Plus, breaking away from traditional conventional farming passed down by family can be intimidating. Farmers question a range of things preventing them from starting, from will it keep my soil too wet, will it keep it too cold, or will it cost too much. In this intro to cover cropping video, these myths are debunked by farmers and agronomists. Hear how to get started and the importance of beginning while you still have a leg up over your soil (if you still do). Learn the benefits of making the move before agronomic challenges force you to take drastic and often expensive steps. As with most situations, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Benefits you can start incurring now, to name a few, include building soil organic matter and water holding capacity in sandy soils, suppressing weeds, improving drainage and building organic matter in clay soils, increasing water infiltration, increasing field accessibility and decreasing input costs. Two of the top benefits that come to mind for many farmers are controlling weeds that are otherwise uncontrollable and rising input costs.

As Evan Brehm, an Indigo agronomist said, “we are battling herbicide-resistant weeds, and by implementing cover crops is a sure way to start mitigating that weed ecology.” Here is a perfect example of an ounce of prevention worth a pound of cure. 

Cover crops outcompete weeds for water, nutrients, or sunlight, significantly reducing weed size and populations, allowing herbicides to not only more effectively control weeds, but to extend their effectiveness. As Chad Warner, an Ohio grower said, “cover crops reduce weed pressure and also reduce fertilizer and improve water infiltration.” 

The timing matters. Cover crops are part of your plan and need to be integrated like that. Rodney Rulon, an Indiana farmer said, “timing and the blends of cover crops is something we developed over quite a few years of seeing what works.” It’s important to develop your full plan and know what you're planting when and using what machinery. Carbon by Indigo is here to help. From carbon farming experts, always a chat away to an advanced tool that allows you to discover recommendations based on your unique operation. 

It’s more to him than cost reduction and increased profitability, it’s the whole ecosystem that he’s developing on his land for this generation and the next. There are a lot of reasons why cover crops are a good idea, but it’s up to you how best to approach them so that you’re not tackling someone’s else’s challenge, you’re tackling your own. And as yield and profitability increasingly feel more disparate, it’s the right time to get that under control. Click here for advice on managing nitrogen applications in cover cropping systems. 

Cover crops can help with a whole host of challenges, but figuring out what to plant and why can feel like a tricky business. The right cover crop depends on different factors including your location, key agronomic challenge and planting information. With the Carbon by Indigo program, receive recommendations that tackle your operation’s agronomic challenges, while also giving you the opportunity to earn high-quality carbon credits. Choose between Access to Quality Forage, Building Soil Carbon, Lack of Moisture, Lack of Nitrogen, Soil Compaction, or Weed Pressure.

Bonus tip: The best way to maximize your payment is to keep covers in your soil for longer, either through planting earlier or terminating it later. If you have questions about your own farm, simply ask in the chat and a carbon farming expert is ready to help.

By Johanna Cohen - Product Marketer for Sustainability Products at Indigo