I got a peek at what might be next for cover crops in the Dakotas the other day.

Big farm tries cover crops
An RDO potato farm near Emmons, N.D. is trying a full season cover crop in its rotation. Rather than rotating to corn or wheat after potatoes on one of their pivots this year, they are planting a full season cover crop mix and are planning to bring in cattle to graze it off. The following year they will go back to potatoes.

One year of cattle grazing a full season cover crop planted on crop land may improve the profitability of the rotation.

RDO is trying cover crops because on this farm they couldn’t get potato residue, which carries over disease spores, to break down in one year so they could plant potatoes on the circle again. Their lead agronomist asked Jay Fuhrer, North Dakota Natural Resources Conservation Service soil health specialist, what was wrong and he told them he thought the microbe population in the soil was low due to their tillage and rotational practices. There was nothing to eat up the residue. One fix would be to go to a longer rotation, giving the residue more time to decompose. But potatoes are RDO’s most profitable crop and the company wants to get the pivot back in potatoes as quickly as they can. So Fuhrer suggested they plant a full season cover crop on the circle and bring in cattle to graze. The combination will increase the soil microbe population, which would consume the potato residue. The first results are expected this fall.

Work for corn, too?
The farmers attending the North Dakota State University soil health meeting talked about whether the idea would work with corn, too. Joe Brekker, a farmer from Havana, N.D., who uses cover crops extensively, said that he was wondering if it would be more profitable this year to rotate corn with a full season cover crop that you would graze off with cattle? The year after the cover crop you would rotate back to corn, but not add have to apply commercial fertilizer. All the nutrients would come from the cover crop residue and cattle manure. The farmers in the group talked about whether using stocker cattle, custom grazing or grass finishing feeder cattle would be the way to go. Could you make more money over the two years with the cover crop and cattle in the mix than with all grain crops? The idea sounded promising, they concluded.