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Cover Crops in Iowa Quick Guide
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Midwest Cover Crops Council
Iowa State University Extension and Outreach
Cover Crops Info
Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education
Cover Crops Topic Room (SARE)
Practical Farmers of Iowa
Iowa USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service
The Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture
Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Soil Health Illustrations
A new, seven-part video series explores how an increasing number of farmers throughout the country are creating a new hope in healthy soil by regenerating our nation's living and life-giving soil. The video series is designed to help consumers, educators and students understand some of the important principles and practices behind the growing soil health movement.
This spring, Humboldt County farmer Doug Adams planted soybeans into a tall, standing rye cover crop. The unconventional practice turned some heads around town and probably sparked some conversations at the coffee shop, but it worked.
Discover ways Iowa farmers are using cover crops to reduce erosion, manage nutrients, and improve soil health.
Cover Crops
Description
Cover crops reduce soil erosion by improving the structure and permeability of the soil. They also act as a physical barrier between raindrops and the surface, helping to lock soil in-place during heavy rainfall events. Cover crops must be planted annually. They can be seeded in the fall using a variety of methods including drilling after crop harvest, broadcasting after crop harvest or aerially broadcasting before harvest.
Benefits
Research indicates rye cover crops reduce nitrate concentration by 31 percent and oat cover crops reduce nitrates by 28 percent. Planting cover crops late summer or early fall can reduce phosphate losses by 29 percent.
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