Tj Kartes and Andy Linder both have first-hand experience with the highs and lows of cover cropping.

Kartes is an industry professional from southern Minnesota who works with multiple farmers across multiple states. He is also salesperson for the forage and cover crop seed company Saddle Butte Ag. Andy Linder runs a cropping and cattle operation near Faribault County, Minn., where he also sells seed for Saddle Butte and does custom application.

They’ve both learned never to waste an experience — good or bad — by keeping it to themselves. Below, find their guide on dos and don’ts of cover cropping.

1. Don’t let fear drive your decision-making

Kartes says the biggest obstacle to adopting cover crops on the farm is fear of change. 

Farmers also — rightly — fear the potential economic or financial impacts of adopting a new practice, he says. And they fear their landlords won’t appreciate them “raising weeds” on their land. But Kartes says he thinks of land as an asset that can either be depleted or appreciated.

“If you lose an inch of topsoil a year, it’s about $30,000 to $40,000 you’re pissing down the river. Do you want to do that every year? That’s not economics. But that’s a fear. It’s fear of change.”

2. Don’t assume you need special equipment

Linder says many people believe that if they want to start cover cropping, they need special equipment. But farmers are incredibly creative, he says, and can make almost any equipment work with…