Page 32 2025 Logan County Spring Outlook LINCOLN DAILY NEWS March 2025 What is a cover crop? If you are any kind of gardener, you probably are already doing this, and if you aren’t, this might give you some ideas going forward. The basic concept of a cover crop is to cover up the soil with another living plant once you harvest your main product. For example, if a farmer harvests his soybeans or corn in the fall, he may work the ground by tilling (or not tilling) the waste, the roots, or left over ‘trash’ from the plant into the soil. By deciding to plant something with a shorter season, such as radishes, turnips, winter cereal rye, oats, or annual ryegrass, these roots will break up compacted soils, add nutrients, and help protect the soil from winter erosion. Cover crops also have another benefit, which is suppressing the production of weeds, increasing moisture and nutrients, improving yield potential, attracting pollinators, and providing a habitat for insects and wildlife, as well as food to animals during the winter months. Cover crops can also add not only to your pantry but to the freezer. Cover crops are a good way to attract large animals, such as deer, for harvesting. Just remember, you cannot just hunt any place you see a cover crop, or in this situation a ‘deer plot,’ all the same rules and regulations apply with deer permits and gaining permission from landowners. Here are a few advantages to cover crops that can be applied to your smaller vegetable garden as well. COVER CROPS Cover crops help use moisture. - Spring crops need moisture to give them that boost to start well. Planting a cover crop in the fall will help retain the moisture and not allow it to dry out as much before planting in the spring. Cover crops increase water infiltration. - We all know water is a necessity for anything to grow. However, there are ways to help water do a more thorough job. Planting deep-rooting cover crops will help build organic matter and break through soil compaction layers. This will increase the way the water moves down through the soil, which will help reduce water ponds standing on the surface. Cover crops can suppress weeds. - Even in a small garden or flower bed, the most daunting job is pulling those weeds. You can go to bed in the evening and wake up to a flowerbed full of weeds. Can you imagine acres and acres of having to control some of the most invasive weeds such as water hemp, giant ragweed, or marestail (horseweed). Even in a vegetable garden, crabgrass, dandelions, or mustard can choke out those baby plants. Planting a cover crop will help suppress these pesky weeds. Cover crops can be a source of livestock feed. - If you have any type of livestock, you can use this as a grazing or forage harvest system for the animals. This not only feeds livestock, but it will also help minimize soil Continued --
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