If you give Hal Truax and his son Evan a choice, the father-and-son no-tillers will opt for planting green vs. planting into a cover crop that was killed several days to a couple of weeks earlier almost every time. The elder Truax has no-tilled so long that it’s second nature, and cover crops are now an important part of their system, as well. The Hendricks County, Ind., farmers say if you plan and do things right, planting corn into a standing, living cover crop works.

In farmer vernacular, that’s becoming known as “planting green.” It may not appeal to first-timers or the faint of heart, but veteran no-tillers are finding it has advantages.

“I’ve always thought the planter works well in that kind of situation,” Truax says. “The soil is usually mellow. At one point in the past, we sometimes planted into winter annuals like henbit, and we usually didn’t have a problem getting a good stand in that scenario.”

What neither Truax likes to do is plant into dead residue terminated earlier. Often dead residue from a cover crop holds moisture in the soil. Overall, they’ve found it less ideal for smooth planting and creating a good seedbed than planting green.

Do it right
Success planting green starts with having the right equipment, Truax says. That means setting up the planter for the conditions it will encounter. Even after more than three decades of no-tilling and several years of planting into cover crops, they’re tweaking their planter again for spring 2019.

“You have to have the right equipment on the planter to handle the material,” Truax says. This year they’re going with row cleaners and closing wheels that are less prone to wrapping material around them. For closing wheels, some of the new offerings with sawtooth-like blades are an option, they note.

The goal is to allow the planter to move through the residue, opening a trench, placing the seed and closing the trench properly without becoming entangled in standing cover crop material, Truax says. It may take a different combination of styles of residue wheels and closing wheels to accomplish that task than it would if you were no-tilling into soybean residue or cover crops terminated several days earlier. It also may mean staying aware of the latest offerings available in the industry and experimenting with what might work best.

Remember fertilizer
The other big factor in planting corn into green, standing cover crops is attending to soil fertility, Truax says. “We pay special attention to nitrogen in this situation,” he says. “Putting nitrogen on at planting is a must if you’re planting into a cover crop which will be terminated.”

It’s all about the immobilization process that will go on after the cover crop is terminated. Some nitrogen will be tied up and not available to the corn crop right away.

The Truaxes apply liquid nitrogen two different ways at planting. They apply some in the row with other nutrients in a low-salt formulation. Then they dribble 5 gallons per acre of 28% N on both sides of each row.  

“It’s important if you’re planting green to get nitrogen out there at planting,” Truax concludes.