Long before cover crops became a hot topic among farmers, Wellman, Iowa, no-tiller Dennis Berger drilled cereal rye in the fall of 1978. Then in the spring of 1979, he used paraquat to kill the rye before no-tilling corn.

“We have come a long way in no-till technology,” says Steve Berger, Dennis’ son. “That field has been continuously no-tilled with corn or soybean since 1979.”

Long-term no-till and cover crops are a winning combination for Berger. He and his father no-till all of their 2,200 acres of corn and soybeans in a 50-50 rotation. In addition, they finish hogs.

They no-till corn on 30-inch rows and drill soybeans on 10-inch spacings. Berger has been a past speaker on cover crops at the National No-Tillage Conference.

Drills More Cereal Rye

During the past 8 to 10 years, the Bergers started no-tilling a higher percentage of their acres to cereal rye. They drill it in the fall, kill it in the spring with glyphosate when the rye is 4 to 10 inches high and then no-till corn and soybeans into the dying stubble.

Berger says he prefers to no-till drill cereal rye between Sept. 15 and Oct. 15. At the very latest, he wants cover crops no-tilled by Nov. 1.

The fields seeded into cereal rye that take priority are highly erodible with 6% to 12% slopes in which they’ve just harvested soybeans.

“These fields are the most vulnerable to erosion,” Berger says. “We drill a lot of rye on level fields…