What are Cover Crops?
Cover crops are planted between cash crop rotations to reduce the amount of bare soil exposed. The benefits of cover crops are many and diverse.
Benefits
Cover Crops Reduce Soil Erosion
By keeping the soil covered with plants and bound by roots, erodibility is decreased. The impact of rain drops on the soil surface is reduced and the velocity of water moving across land is slowed, helping your valuable soil stay on your fields.
Cover Crops Reduce Soil Erosion
By keeping the soil covered with plants and bound by roots, erodibility is decreased. The impact of rain drops on the soil surface is reduced and the velocity of water moving across land is slowed, helping your valuable soil stay on your fields.
Cover Crops help Control Weed Populations
Cover crops compete with weeds for nutrients and water during winter months when the ground would normally be bare. Once cover crops are terminated, the residue can be left on your field as a mulch to further reduce weed establishment.
Cover Crops Enhance Soil Health and Reduce Soil Compaction
Planting cover crops increases carbon and organic matter in the soil, especially when plants are not removed from fields. The roots of cover crops create pore space when decomposed and therefore reduce soil compaction. Cover crops also feed soil organisms which increase soil carbon. In this way, cover crops can be used to sequester carbon!
Cover Crops Enhance Soil Health and Reduce Soil Compaction
Planting cover crops increases carbon and organic matter in the soil, especially when plants are not removed from fields. The roots of cover crops create pore space when decomposed and therefore reduce soil compaction. Cover crops also feed soil organisms which increase soil carbon. In this way, cover crops can be used to sequester carbon!
Cover Crops Reduce Fertilizer Needs
Cover crops capture and hold the nutrients from a previous crop in a living system. These nutrients are then readily available for the following crop. Legume cover crops can increase the amount of nitrogen in the soil.
Resources
Cover Crop Economics – SARE
This document talks about the economics of cover crops by looking at multiple factors. It talks about short-term and long-term impacts of cover crops on yields and profit, how cover crops impact farms based on their problem areas (drought, weeds, or soil compaction), and the impacts of cover crops on the environment.
Beneficial Uses of Cover Crops – VCE
Interested in implementing cover crops on your farm? This publication provides a list of benefits for planting cover crops with descriptions.
