Cover crops can be used for different reasons, such as to provide soil erosion protection, alleviate compaction, control weeds, fix atmospheric nitrogen for the next crop, harvest for hay, and as a grazing resource. The reason for using a cover crop will determine which species or mixture of species you choose, as well as how you manage it.

Jamie Scott is a no-till farmer from Indiana who is talking about his crop rotation and cover crop strategy.

Kevin Shelley, from the University of Wisconsin’s Nutrient and Pest Management Program, tours multiple cover crop demonstration plots and provides a fundamental overview of crop benefits, with growth expectations, timing, challenges and costs.

Following harvest of winter wheat or other small grains, fields are often left fallow. But with more than 40% of the growing season remaining, planting a cover crop may be a good option, says University of Wisconsin Extension.

To get a sense of which herbicides can be used before a specific cover crop species and which can’t, Purdue University weed scientist Bryan Young compiled research from the University of Wisconsin, Purdue University, University of Missouri and Penn State University, as well as commercial research conducted by retired University of Illinois Extension agronomist Mike Plumer.