Cover crop in modern farming: Benefits and best practice.

Let’s begin with the most common question: what are cover crops? Well, cover crops are plants that are grown between cash crops (corn, soybeans, wheat, etc.) to improve soil fertility, reduce erosion, improve water retention, manage pests and diseases, and to encourage overall biodiversity.

We all know that fertile soil leads to higher yield potential, which is why farmers strive for healthier soil. Unlike conventional synthetic fertilizers, cover crops can enrich your farm’s soil while benefiting the surrounding environment. And that is the primary cause of cover crops becoming popular in modern farming.

Why do cover crops matter?

In modern organic farming, farmers are adopting techniques to reduce the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides. Synthetic fertilizers and pesticides have side effects such as water pollution, harm to beneficial insects, hypoxia, and even soil pollution from overuse.

On the other hand, cover crops enhance soil fertility, and help to manage pests’ weeds, and diseases without harming the surrounding environment. That’s why cover crops are important in sustainable farming.

How do cover crops replenish soil nutrients?

Every time you harvest a crop; you are draining nutrients from your farmland’s soil. And to achieve a profitable yield in the next harvest, those nutrients need to be refilled, right? Well, Cover crops are a natural solution for that!

Cover crops can help to improve soil structure, add organic matter, convert nutrients into a more accessible form for cash crops, and increase soil’s nitrogen level.

For instance, legumes, a type of cover crop that can increase nitrogen by mutually working with rhizobia bacteria. When both of them decompose, they release nitrogen into the soil. Rhizobia is also helpful in reducing root diseases.

Note: One species of rhizobia bacteria can infect humans.

Other benefits of cover crops

Besides replenishing nutrients, cover crops have some additional benefits.

1. Water management?

Cover crops help preserve moisture in your farmland’s soil by shading its surface and reducing the evaporation rate. Additionally, cover crops themselves contain water, and when they are incorporated or decompose into the soil, they help increase the soil’s moisture levels. Furthermore, their roots create channels in the soil, enhancing water infiltration.

2. Pest regulation

Pests are significant challenges in agriculture, but pest-reducing cover crops like buckwheat, clovers, hairy vetch, and cereals can help regulate pest population on your farmland while reducing the need to use chemical pesticides. Pest-resistant cover crops control pests by favoring beneficial predator insects’ living conditions, which naturally leads to a balanced pest population.

3. Disease prevention

Cover crops help control disease in several ways. For instance, cover crops enhance soil microbial population, which compete with plant pathogens for nutrients and deter pathogen growth.

4. Weeds suppression

Cover crops also suppress Weeds by minimizing sunlight, water, and nutrients for weeds.

5. Erosion control:

Cover crops improve soil structure and serve as a barrier against wind and rain, helping to prevent soil erosion.

Criteria for selecting cover crops

There are several aspects you should consider before selecting cover crops.

1. Seed Cost
2. Desired Benefits: Identify what you aim to achieve by planting cover crops, such as erosion prevention, nitrogen enrichment, adding biomass, pest control, weed suppression, or disease prevention.
3. Season Suitability: Ensure the cover crop is appropriate for the season. For instance, winter cover crops should be frost-resistant.
4. Residue Management: Consider whether you have to intervene to incorporate residue into the soil or it will naturally decompose.

Types of cover crops

Cover crops are mainly divided into four categories, namely 1. Grasses 2. Legumes 3. Brassicas 4. Non-Legume Broadleaves

Grasses

Oats, barley, sorghum, and ryegrass are examples of some Grass category cover crops. These Grass variant cover crops have fibrous roots that prevent soil erosion and produce large amounts of biomass, which add organic matter and increase soil fertility. Additionally, this group of cover crops effectively suppresses weeds.

Legumes

The Legumes category’s cover crops prominent feature is that they help convert atmospheric nitrogen into plan-usable form, enriching soil fertility. Additionally, they add organic matter and prevent soil erosion. Furthermore, legume residue decomposes quickly, requiring minimal intervention. Examples of legume cover crops are Alfalfa, clover, field, peas, hairy, and vetch.

Brassicas

The brassica group’s cover crops proliferate rapidly, produce natural compounds that help manage pests, and scavenge nutrients efficiently. Examples: Radishes, turnips, and oilseed radishes.

Non-Legume Broadleaves

These types of cover crops form diverse root systems to build soil structure. They can also improve soil fertility (e.g. green manure). Buckwheat, flax, and chicory are some other examples of this category.

Note: Some cover crops help to improve soil, beside suitable for livestock grazing. For example, Cereal grains, oats, ryegrass, vetch, clovers, etc.

Cover crops for Winter

Categorizing cover crops by season and their benefits is more comprehensible than dividing them by features. As winter cover crops matter most to farmers, I have compiled a list of commonly used winter cover crops.

1. Winter Rye: Cold-hardy and very effective at preventing erosion, develops deep roots system that improves soil structure.
2. Hairy Vetch: Increases nitrogen level, produces biomass, and favors soil biological activity.
3. Buckwheat: Grows quickly, provides excellent weed suppression, and remanent decomposes quickly, adding nutrients into the soil.
4. Crimson Clover: Add nitrogen, control erosion, and suppress weeds. Its biomass breaks down quickly after tilling, which enriches the soil.

Cover crop management

Different types of cover crops require different kinds of care, and incorporating different cover crop management guides will make this article humongous and boring. After selecting suitable cover crops for your farm, research its care requirements online.

However, keep in mind that, you should remove cover crops that produce seeds after they bloom to prevent unwanted reseeding.