Production and Harvesting

Cover crops are grown because they provide multiple benefits to soil health and increase the yield of cash crops. At the same time, they also help maintain cleaner surface and groundwater, prevent erosion, improve soil biological and physical properties, suppress weeds, break pest cycles and much more.

Use Penn State Extension’s vast selection of resources on cover crops such as clover, wheat, canola, rye, and hairy vetch. Learn more about choosing cover crop mixes, planting and harvesting considerations, and crop land management.

Seed Choice and Cover Crop Mixtures

Many types of plants can be used as cover crops. There’s no one species that can provide all the benefits, so it’s important to keep your goals in mind when selecting cover crops, or deciding whether cover crop mixtures would be a more cost-effective option.

One way to learn more about different cover crops is to take part in Penn State Extension’s Cover Crop Plot Tour. Cover crops are commonly used in Pennsylvania for suppressing weeds, but some cover crops are more effective than others. As well as choosing a species of cover crop, the quality of the seed is another consideration to bear in mind. Cover crop seed can be bought from a dealer or there’s the option of using bin-run seed.

Cover crop mixtures can be very effective for multiplying and diversifying cover crop benefits. Mixtures can be designed to take into account current and future management objectives. When using cover crop mixtures, the functionality of each species can be controlled with careful seeding rate calculations.

Cover Crop Planting

Cover crops are an important component of any cropping system, but the key to their success is timing. It’s especially important to plant them as soon as possible after corn silage and after crops harvested for grain. Difficulties can arise when a season is short or there’s a late harvest, but a cover crop interseeder and applicator can be used to overcome this problem.

The type of cover crops grown depends on the aim of the cover crops program. Legume cover crops, for example, are often used on vegetable farms to add nitrogen to the soil. Cover crops can also be planted for grazing livestocks, for example, by extending the grazing season by planting brassicas.

Cover crops can be used to reduce the need for herbicides, but carryover concerns have to be taken into account for seeding cover crops after in-season corn and soybean herbicide applications. While cover crops are fairly easy to control in a burndown program, herbicides may be necessary to manage some cover crops.

No-Till Best Practices With Cover Crops

Planting green is a technique that refers to no-till planting of primary crops into actively growing cover crops. It can be used very successfully when planting a grain crop such as corn or soybeans into a cover crop.

No-till crop management is known for being difficult to work with, but it is possible with access to the right equipment and information. Penn State Extension’s video series No-Till Planters: Design Features, Adjustment, and Maintenance cover the components of a corn planter critical for successful no-till planting. Interseeding cover crops can also be used to improve the adoption of cover crops.

Crop Rotation With Cover Crops

Cover crops can be used very successfully as part of a crop rotation program. There are many benefits such as building healthy soil, providing a place to spread manure on animal husbandry farms, and to alleviate soil compaction issues caused by corn silage harvest. Rather than leaving land fallow after small grain harvest, cover crops can be used to create extra value by protecting and improving soil and fixing atmospheric nitrogen for next year’s crop.

Cover Crop Harvesting or Termination

The FSA, NRCS, and RMA have developed a consistent, simple, and flexible policy for cover crop practices. The guidelines include the reporting for cover crops and cover crop termination. Selecting the right termination process is essential for producers who want to make the most of the next growing season. The timing of corn harvest for silage, for example, can affect the method used.

Penn State Extension’s interactive workshop Making Cover Crops Pay includes a variety of topics relating to cover crops and how practices such as grazing cover crops can provide a positive return.