Latest / The Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Podcast / Episode 02 | Cover Crops: the why & how for this fall
Transcript
- Episode 02 | Cover Crops: the why & how for this fall 00:00:00:03 - 00:00:23:00 Todd Gleason This is the Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy podcast, episode two, University of Illinois Extension's Todd Gleason. Today we're joined by Eric Miller, a farmer from Piatt County, Jennifer Woodyard, who is with U of I extension and a watershed outreach specialist along with Lowell Gentry. He's a researcher here in the College of ACES on campus. We'll talk a little bit about cover crops. 00:00:23:03 - 00:00:34:16 Todd Gleason Lowell, I want to know from you, if you've had some tile drainage studies in Douglas County with some cover crops. Can you tell me a little bit about, nitrogen applications and treatments and timings you've been doing there? 00:00:34:18 - 00:00:57:14 Lowell Gentry Yeah. So we have a study that's in its fourth year in Douglas County. It's a replicated tile drainage study, and we're looking at different nitrogen management systems, ranging from all of the nitrogen applied in the fall with N inhibitor versus all in the spring, versus a 50/50 split spring and side dress and we have a treatment with cover crops. 00:00:57:14 - 00:01:10:25 Lowell Gentry And so, with this study, we're able to look at the amount of tile nitrate loss that comes from each of these systems. And we're looking at when and how nitrate is lost from both corn and soybean. 00:01:10:28 - 00:01:14:20 Todd Gleason Have you found anything unique as it relates to the cover crops? 00:01:14:22 - 00:01:23:28 Lowell Gentry Yes. The, the data showed that in the first year we tried cereal rye after corn, which was ahead of soybean. 00:01:24:01 - 00:01:49:14 Lowell Gentry We we reduced the tile nitrate load by 40%. And, we did not have any, ill effect on the following soybean crop. So, yes, that was our biggest finding was that, we could reduce tile nitrate loads, with, the concept of using a cover crop. The cereal rye took up soil N that could have moved to the tiles and prevented it, from moving to the tile. 00:01:49:16 - 00:01:54:08 Todd Gleason Jennifer, what other kinds of benefits might we see from using cover crops, in your opinion? 00:01:54:11 - 00:02:09:10 Jennifer Woodyard Yeah. So one of the traditional reasons growers use cover crops is for erosion control. Having a cover in place during typically fallow periods of the year, like winter, helps hold our soils in our fields. This is especially important in areas with topography where water erosion can cause washes and gullies. 00:02:09:12 - 00:02:28:04 Jennifer Woodyard So I work in the Embarras and little Wabash watersheds in east central and south eastern Illinois, which are our phosphorus priorities in the Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction strategy. Phosphorus tends to absorb or stick to soil particles. So when soil erodes, it's likely taking phosphorus with it. Using cover crops can prevent some of the sediment and phosphorus from entering our water bodies. 00:02:28:07 - 00:02:54:04 Jennifer Woodyard And then another reason, is research has shown that cover crops can increase soil aggregate stability. So aggregates are groups of soil particles that bind to each other more strongly than to other particles. And as aggregate stability increases, soil aeration, water infiltration, root penetration and growth can improve. Soils with weaker aggregate stability can form crusts after heavy water falls because the aggregates disintegrate when exposed to forces like water. 00:02:54:06 - 00:03:07:25 Jennifer Woodyard So we know crusts can inhibit seedling emergence and cause increased runoff and soil erosion as water infiltration decreases. So having that living root in place from the cover crop helps form stable aggregates. And these are just a couple of the benefits we see from cover crops. 00:03:07:27 - 00:03:15:08 Todd Gleason So we can do all of the research. We can look at it but does it work on the farm is really the question at the end of the line. 00:03:15:08 - 00:03:22:20 Todd Gleason And Eric Miller is here. He's from Piatt County. Eric, tell me a little bit about, your farm and how you been using cover crops there? 00:03:22:23 - 00:03:42:15 Eric Miller We started using cover crops in, 2011. We were transitioning the farm from a typical, corn soybean rotation with conventional tillage. We were transitioning to strip till and no till, and, we were also looking at adding wheat to the rotation for diversity. 00:03:42:18 - 00:03:51:16 Eric Miller We felt cover crops helped with putting living roots in the soil for a longer period of time. And it did help with, diversity by introducing different species. 00:03:51:18 - 00:04:07:03 Todd Gleason So you've been at this? Not for very long in terms of cover crops, and the transition, in particular to no till, I'm interested on the cover crops, knowing what you use on the farm, what kind of cover crops and species. 00:04:07:05 - 00:04:24:01 Eric Miller We started very simple with oats or oats, radish mix, which, is pretty easy to establish. And it does winter kill. We've tried some combination. We did a clover radish turnip combination. Currently we are focusing mostly on cereal rye and winter wheat. 00:04:24:03 - 00:04:28:13 Todd Gleason Do you have beef cattle on the operation? The radish makes me ask that question. 00:04:28:15 - 00:04:35:27 Eric Miller When we saw the growth that we got from that combination, we wish we had beef cattle. But no, we did not. Unfortunately, no neighbors did either. 00:04:36:00 - 00:04:45:04 Todd Gleason So, so this brings me to the question of what kind of problems did you find originally, and were you able to overcome them and, exactly how. 00:04:45:04 - 00:04:52:20 Eric Miller We started out by, establishing our cover crops with aerial application, and unfortunately, that is a real hit or miss. 00:04:52:20 - 00:05:18:29 Eric Miller It can be very successful. It can be very spotty. So we have gone to, seeding whether it's no tilled drill, or 15 inch planter. That helps create the uniformity. Like any other, you know, growing plant, you have to look out for insects. You know, we've had to watch for army worms and slugs, but generally, you know, that hasn't been too big of an issue. 00:05:19:02 - 00:05:23:08 Todd Gleason Eric, what are the benefits you see on your farm from using cover crops? 00:05:23:10 - 00:05:35:12 Eric Miller It will take up, excess, nitrates. Certainly, living roots in the soil profile for, you know, the majority of the year. Reduced soil erosion. Just several benefits. 00:05:35:18 - 00:05:38:27 Todd Gleason Let's get a kind of a final wrap up word from each of you. 00:05:38:29 - 00:05:49:13 Todd Gleason I'm interested to know what advice. And we'll start with you, Eric, because you've been at this for a while on a farm, you might have for producers who might want to look at trying to cover crop. 00:05:49:13 - 00:06:05:06 Eric Miller Two good resources will always be, find a farmer who has tried cover crops and then also here, just in the last year, the Illinois, Nutrient Research and Education Council did come out with a considerations for first time cover crop adopters. 00:06:05:08 - 00:06:10:12 Eric Miller That's an excellent resource that will walk you through the simple steps of starting out. 00:06:10:14 - 00:06:15:13 Todd Gleason Anything you've learned from the research side that you can pass on to producers? Is this advice Lowell? 00:06:15:20 - 00:06:26:13 Lowell Gentry Well, yeah. The the document that Eric just spoke about, did come from the research there in Douglas County. And it was because of that, great response we got in the very first year. 00:06:26:16 - 00:06:53:12 Lowell Gentry It was a warm winter. So it was, great for the cover crop. Not so good for fall in, where last spring we had, very cold temperatures, and we didn't get enough growth to impact the tail. Nitrate. So, we don't have all the answers yet. We need to do more research, and we hope that, ultimately, we'll get to this, maybe a new level of equilibrium where we have the nutrient cycling occurring more quickly. 00:06:53:19 - 00:07:08:05 Lowell Gentry But I do think that, that handout, that we created is a very nice, systematic stepwise lead you through if you're a first time adopter. And we're just talking about cereal rye after corn ahead of soybean. 00:07:08:05 - 00:07:12:19 Todd Gleason And Jennifer, you're on the forefront of this working with producers directly. Advice from you? 00:07:12:21 - 00:07:17:17 Jennifer Woodyard Yeah. So there's another great resource out there, produced by the Midwest Cover Crops Council. 00:07:17:17 - 00:07:35:01 Jennifer Woodyard It's called the cover crop decision Tool, and it's on their website. Using this tool, you can select your state and even down to your county, and it'll give you different reliable establishment dates for several different cover crop species. So you can go in there and you can also select what goals that you hope to achieve by using cover crops. 00:07:35:01 - 00:07:51:14 Jennifer Woodyard So if you're looking for a soil builder or a nitrogen scavenger or, nitrogen source like a legume, you can put those goals in there and it'll give you recommendations. It'll even give you recommendations on seeding rate and planting time and termination. So this is a really great tool for producers out there. 00:07:51:21 - 00:07:54:23 Todd Gleason If you're thinking about where to go, find that it's MCCC. 00:07:54:23 - 00:08:23:05 Todd Gleason That's three Cs, .MSU, which stands for Michigan State university.edu. So that's MCCC dot MSU dot edu. Our thanks go, of course to Jennifer Woodyard, who is a University of Illinois extension specialist, along with Lowell Gentry, who's a researcher here on the College of Aces campus at the U of I and Eric Miller from, Piatt County, a farmer and an entrepreneur in the cover crop area. I’m University of Illinois Extension's Todd Gleason.