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Managing fall-seeded cover crops in the spring

An extension educator says farmers using cover crops need to focus on residue management and effective termination this spring.

Jill Sackett Eberhart with the University of Minnesota tells Brownfield fall-seeded covers like oats and radishes will winter-kill, and proper calibration is very important when planting into that residue.

“Because if you have some extra residue out there, you need to make sure you have enough down-pressure (and) things are cutting.  Or getting the trash out of that row.”

For terminating winter-hardy cover crops, like cereal rye, she says farmers using herbicides should spray early and read the label.

“If it’s not warm enough the day you want to spray, wait.  Because that cover crop has to be able to have warm, sunny days that allow it to take up that herbicide.  That’s the key to getting a successful termination with a herbicide.”

Another option for termination is through tillage.

“You might have to do two passes.  I’d prefer to see something like a field cultivator used because it slices those roots off, versus a vertical piece of tillage.”

Sackett Eberhart says grazing and mowing are other ways producers can terminate mature cover crops.