By Amanda Kautz

If you planted cover crops, you may be wondering how to evaluate if your investment was worth it. Scouting can help you evaluate your cover crop investment. Here is what you should look at:

Root structure. Cover crops will put a lot of energy into developing a good root system before much above-ground growth happens. A shovel is the most important tool you have for cover crop scouting. A plant with a small amount of above-ground growth has a robust and deep root system. Are the roots growing through compacted layers, or is the compaction limiting roots? Do roots have bends or sharp turns that could indicate a compacted layer? If your cover crop is impacted, your cash crop will be too.

Nodules on legumes. If you planted legumes, are there nodules on roots? Are they a reddish pink color when you cut them open? If so, that means the nodules are producing nitrogen. Legumes do not start nodulating until they are near or at bloom stage in the spring.

Stand and distribution. A poor or uneven stand could be caused by any number of factors. Uneven spreading of residue during harvest and herbicide carryover are two very common ones. It also could be due to a planting issue, such as units on the drill having different settings, the aerial application being affected by environmental factors or a software or equipment malfunction. Seed quality also could be a contributing factor. If the seed did not have a high germination rate, it will negatively affect emergence.

Related:Consider spring-planted cover crops

Beneficial organisms. Are you seeing signs of beneficial organisms? A sign of earthworms is middens, or piles of redistributed residue, on the soil surface and channels throughout the soil profile. These areas provide high concentrations of plant-available nutrients and easy routes for roots to follow. Earthworms also mix soil and organic matter. They perform your tillage for you! Ground beetles, green lacewings, ladybugs and other beneficial insects eat plant pests such as aphids, slugs, black cutworm moths and armyworms. They also will eat weed seeds. To support beneficial organisms, use pesticides and seed treatments only when needed.

Residue decomposition. For your cover crops to release nutrients and build soil organic matter, they need to decompose. If residue is not breaking down, consider ways to lower your carbon-to-nitrogen ratio to facilitate decomposition. If the ratio is too high, residue will pile up instead of breaking down because there is not enough nitrogen in the system.

These are only a few ways you can use your observations to fine-tune your plans. Even when the cover crop looks less than impressive, digging into the field may provide surprising results. You wouldn’t give up on corn or beans if you had one disappointing year, so don’t give up on cover crops either. Use your observations to adjust your plan, talk to those who have had cover crop success, ask questions and try again next year.

Related:Consider adding cover crops for grazing

Kautz is the state soil health specialist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Indiana. She writes on behalf of the Indiana Conservation Partnership.