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Agronomist touts benefits of cover crops

A conservation agronomist says more and more farmers are trying cover crops for a variety of reasons.

Ryan Johnson is with the Iowa Soybean Association. “Erosion control is definitely one of the main drivers for it,” he said. “We found on our farm that there are some other things that drove us to adopting cover crops. Grazing potential was a main one for us. We graze cows on corn stalks.”

Speaking during the association’s Innovation to Profit Conference on Thursday, he said cover crops have helped him reduce his input costs. “Yield being not a factor, there was a lot of other savings that we had,” Johnson said, “and one of them was our herbicide program.”

Johnson says other benefits include weed suppression and improved water quality.