Field tour highlights cover crops and perennial species to reduce soil erosion in field crops

By David Nicolai, Rebekah Carlson, Dr. Scotty Wells, Michelle Dobbratz, Cody Hoerning, John Baker

Excerpts from U of MN Extension Event notice:

From fall to late spring, driving across the upper Midwest tells a story of unproductive land: black soil, erosion, and nutrient loss. While the land during the remainder of the year produces a highly productive crop, this period of black soil presents short term losses to the farmer and long term impact to the environment. Traditional cover crops, while highly effective at mitigating such issues, typically add a cost to growers with minimal economic return. The goal of the University of Minnesota research, “Greening the brown period using managed perennial species,” is to develop a perennial cover crop system within a corn and soybean rotation. This will be done by manipulating tillage treatments with various perennial species to optimize cover while minimizing yield loss to the cash crop harvested in the fall. Designing such a system with perennials will allow for a continuous living cover across the landscape without the need to repurchase and replant cover seed each year.

The Field Day Research and Demonstration Stops will include:

• Agronomics of the kura clover living mulch system in field corn systems
• Cover crop establishment within established corn growing in a Minnesota climate
• Cash cover crops: Relay-cropping oilseeds in corn-soybean rotations

Funding for this project was provided by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, Forever Green Agriculture Initiative, Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council, and the Minnesota Corn Growers Association.