Cover crops: Making the right decisions for your fields
Cover crops are widely seen as a beneficial practice, with effects like improved soil health, weed management and erosion protection. They also require a little planning and knowledge to be successful.
Kris McNaughton is a research technician at the University of Guelph, Ridgetown Campus. She discusses the importance of forethought: termination of a cover crop, the crops that preceded and will follow in that field, and how herbicide use can affect the cover crop.
Yvonne Lawley, a professor in the plant science department at the University of Manitoba, and Callum Morrison, a University of Manitoba PhD student, discuss a cover crop survey they conducted in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta in 2019 and the importance of considering the realities of your farm when deciding on cover crops.
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Show notes
- "What to consider when looking at cover crops," a webinar from April 2020 led by Anne Verhallen, OMAFRA horticultural soil management specialist.
- OMAFRA Publication 75A, Guide to Weed Control: Field Crops
- Midwest Cover Crop Council
- Cover crop selector tool
- Midwest Cover Crops Field Guide (and the mobile app version)
- Managing Cover Crops Profitably, published by the USDA's Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program
- USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) website for cover crops and and soil health
- North Dakota State University (NDSU) soil health website
- Soil Sense podcast
- Abbey Wick on Twitter: @NDSUsoilhealth
- On Twitter:
- @YvonneLawley_UM
- @CallumMorrisons
- @Anne_Verhallen
- @drobinridgetown
