During the conference, North Jersey RC&D was honored as the No-Till Innovator of the Year in the organization category. They recently worked with 25 farmers on cover crop termination methods.
Jeff Bowlby participated in one of their planting green trials with crimson clover, which he usually plants in late August or early September. One field, he terminated before planting. The other field, he let the clover grow another week-and-a-half before planting into it. The East Amwell, N.J., no-tiller estimates he gained 30 extra units of nitrogen by allowing the clover to reach its maximum potential.
“I upgraded a lot of my equipment so I could do the planting green practice or at least try it. The idea is to let the vegetative growth go as long as possible, so you don’t have a lapse in life cycle on my ground. I was nervous the first time I did it and there’s a lot of people I make nervous doing it. Some of my crimson clover stands that I plant through, you come to the end of field and the only thing you see is all your vegetative knocked down. They say, ‘How do you know it’s working?” Just sit in the seat and look forward, don’t worry about what’s behind you. It’s scary. Until the seed comes out of the ground, I don’t sleep very well. Even though you’re planting through what looks like a jungle, it will work.”
In the first year of the trial, Jeff’s planting green field produced 40 more bushels of corn per acre, and in the 2nd year, 15 more bushels of soybeans per acre.
Watch the full version of this episode of Conservation Ag Update.