You never know until you ask. That’s basically how the Boone County, Ind., cover crop demonstration project began, Brian Daggy says. During a discussion about how to tell other farmers about cover crops, someone suggested asking the county commissioners if they would allow farmers to farm a small amount of land the county owns and set up cover crop plots.

“The commissioners liked the idea, and we were off and running,” Daggy recalls. He’s the resource specialist for the Boone County Soil and Water Conservation District. The 9-plus-acre plot is located near the Boone County 4-H Fairgrounds.

The first cover crops were planted in 2015. Plots included cereal rye; annual ryegrass only; a plot with oats, annual ryegrass and crimson clover; a plot with late-planted cereal rye; and a check strip where no cover crops were planted. All plots are no-tilled.

“No-till is the base, and we’re trying to show that by adding cover crops, we can make more improvements in soil health,” Daggy says.

Group effort
From the start, the Boone County Conservation Partnership Education and Demonstration Area’s cover crop plots have been a joint effort, Daggy emphasizes. Curt Emmanuel, Boone County Extension ag educator, works closely with Daggy in making sure plots are planted and seeded and field days happen, but they get plenty of help.

From the beginning, a steering committee of Boone County farmers provided guidance. They include Dave Chance, Bruce Guernsey, Don Lamb and Allen Mohler. Local companies and groups providing support include the Boone County SWCD staff, Beck’s, Bane-Welker Equipment, Farm Credit Mid-America at Crawfordsville, Byron Seeds, Boone County Farm Bureau Inc., Co-Alliance LLC, Dekalb and Asgrow, Lamb Farms Agronomy, the State Bank of Lizton, The Farmers Bank, and Home National Bank. Chris Branaman and Dan Dunbar, SWCD supervisors, assist with the demonstration project.

The Indiana Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts awarded the Boone County SWCD with a Showcase Award at the 2018 annual conference for its efforts in establishing the project.

Track results
Plots are harvested and yields are reported each year, Daggy says. At summer and winter field days, they talk about both what works and doesn’t work. “The goal is to give local farmers a chance to see potential benefits while letting them understand there can be challenges,” Daggy says.

As the steering committee and conservation partnership team study results, they try different things. Due to a late harvest, seeding was later than preferred this year. However, they still expect to see results.

Cover crop applications varied somewhat for fall 2018 vs. 2015. This past fall, applications were cereal rye in one plot; barley and rape in another; annual ryegrass, crimson clover and rape in a third plot; oats and radish in a fourth plot; a fifth plot with oats, radish, rape and crimson clover; and a sixth plot with cereal rye, oats and rape.