I
n the 1980s, when the idea of no-till
farming was taking root in the Midwest,
a group of local farmers came together
and formed a club. This enabled them to
learn more and share more of what they
learned with each other regarding being
successful with no-till.
Steve Bracey, resource
conservationist,
and
Bill Dickerson, district
conservationist, of the
Logan County Soil and
Water
Conservation
District in Lincoln, call this
group the Logan County
innovators of no-till farming.
So it should come as no surprise that
when the Land of Lincoln Soil Savers
Club recently met for breakfast, several
of the members reported they are using
nontraditional cover crops on their no-till
acres.
More specifically, several of the no-
tillers said that they were incorporating
radishes into their cover along with
ryegrasses.
When looking at cover crops in Loga
n
County, there are both positives an
d
negatives in their use. The most apparen
t
positives are that they protect the soi
l
surface, increase soil organic matter an
d
reduce erosion. In addition, cover crop
s
can help extract residual nitrates an
d
sequester carbon.
On the negative side, first and foremos
t
Turnips and radishes: Making
dollars & scents out of cover crops
may be the added cost.
Another consideration in using a
cover crop is that it is a double-edged
sword. In some years, ground cover
may help hold moisture in soil. But in
a dry year such as 2012, those same
cover crops can steal moisture from
the soil, thus hindering
cash crop production.
Dan Towery of the
Conservation Cropping
Systems Initiative was
the guest speaker at
the recent Soil Savers
meeting. Towery noted
there is another, more or less self-
imposed negative to using cover
crops: the planting dates.
For cover crops such as turnips
or radishes to have enough time to
establish prior to winter kill-down, they
must be planted between July 15 and
Sept. 15, the heart of the growing
season for corn.
2013 LO
GAN COUNTY FARM OUTLOOK MAGAZINE. LINCOLN DAILY NEWS.com March 21, 2013
28
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