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Page 20 March 23, 2017
2017 Logan County Farm Outlook Magazine
LINCOLN DAILY NEWS
M
ost everyone would agree there are benefits to
using a cover crop between cash crops. They
protect and enrich soils, and provide environmental
stewardship to the land and waterways.
So what keeps farmers in Logan County from
putting out a cover crop for the winter months?
Timing and costs
The long, late season of corn and soybeans narrows
the opportunity for plants to get established before
winter sets in.
Those few farms that practice dual production with
livestock to feed, and some organic systems where
a cover crop provides a compounded circular feed
and/or fertilizer, may benefit most from a secondary
harvestable crop. But for others, on the face of it,
it carries a measurable expenditure with no end of
season cash back.
Benefits to field only producers (no livestock)
Improved soil health - through increased organic
matter, aeration, drainage.
Supplement nutrients - such as N by roots capturing
nutrients and drawing upward, and through
decomposed residues.
Erosion control - root systems hold in place, plant
canopies prevent direct disruption.
Nematode and other soil pests control - through
biochemical releases and improved sustained soil
moisture.
Crop consultant Dr. Bill Becker places his focus on
the health of the soil. He says the most important
relationship to yield is organic matter in the soil.
He also identifies attaining highest yields in the
relationship between roots and grain, more healthy
roots, more grain produced. His research focuses
on improving structure through increasing organic
matter and improving soil structure through usage
of cover crops and modified tillage practices. Those
primary steps when added to balancing nutrients
lowers other cost inputs, while increasing yields.
In a time of narrow profit margins such as we
have now, who would risk the added expense,
why and how?
Atlanta farmer Doug Thompson put in oats and
radish seed for the first time just last fall. He did
it as “one of my enhancement practices under the
NRCS Conservation Stewardship Program.”
“I participated in an excellent program sponsored by
the IL Corn Growers in which they provided the
Why some central Illinois farmers
are giving cover crops a try
Continue
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By Jan Youngquist