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Cover crop seeding may depend upon time of harvest.

Tom Bechman 1, Editor, Indiana Prairie Farm

November 13, 2014

2 Min Read

Jeremy Henry works full-time off the farm. So does his wife, Tara. The couple farms near Connersville. When Jeremy converted to no-till, he soon wanted to try cover crops. After one experience with aerial seeding where neighbors thought they were spraying pesticides, he decided he was too close to town for aerial applications.

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But Henry didn't want to make another trip across the field in the fall. His time is limited. So he tracked down old John Deere dry fertilizer boxes and fans from Herd seeders, and rigged up a seeding unit on his corn head before the 2013 season. He had an excellent cover crop to plant into after burndown this spring. He will have an excellent crop on most fields again in 2015.

Related: Farmer Tries Seeding Cover Crops with Nitrogen Applicator

"We harvested some corn early and the cover is off to a great start," Henry says. "It should give me good growth next spring before we burn it down."

As long as he follows protocol, he hasn't had problems burning down annual ryegrass. He also seeds cereal rye, especially ahead of soybeans or if it gets late in the fall and he still wants to seed a cover crop.

Even planted now, if the weather cooperates, cereal rye often produces a cover crop next spring. You may need to adjust seeding rates if planting now. You also may need a rain to get it started if you're not drilling it after harvest.

Thinking about a cover crop? Start with developing a plan. Download the FREE Cover Crops: Best Management Practices report today, and get the information you need to tailor a cover crop program to your needs.

The protocol for killing annual ryegrass in cool weather includes spraying in the middle of the day. Applications made late in the evening when weather is cool with burndown herbicides used in his program aren't as effective, he notes.

The seeder on the corn head is powered by hydraulics. He uses the outlets on the combine that power the reel on the grain table while combining soybeans.

About the Author(s)

Tom Bechman 1

Editor, Indiana Prairie Farm

Tom Bechman is an important cog in the Farm Progress machinery. In addition to serving as editor of Indiana Prairie Farmer, Tom is nationally known for his coverage of Midwest agronomy, conservation, no-till farming, farm management, farm safety, high-tech farming and personal property tax relief. His byline appears monthly in many of the 18 state and regional farm magazines published by Farm Progress.

"I consider it my responsibility and opportunity as a farm magazine editor to supply useful information that will help today's farm families survive and thrive," the veteran editor says.

Tom graduated from Whiteland (Ind.) High School, earned his B.S. in animal science and agricultural education from Purdue University in 1975 and an M.S. in dairy nutrition two years later. He first joined the magazine as a field editor in 1981 after four years as a vocational agriculture teacher.

Tom enjoys interacting with farm families, university specialists and industry leaders, gathering and sifting through loads of information available in agriculture today. "Whenever I find a new idea or a new thought that could either improve someone's life or their income, I consider it a personal challenge to discover how to present it in the most useful form, " he says.

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