News

Limited supply of cover crop seed expected for next year

The American Seed Trade Association is encouraging farmers to plan on tight supplies of cover crop seed in 2023.

Justin Fruechte with ASTA member Millborn Seeds in Brookings, South Dakota tells Brownfield a lot of cover crops were seeded this year.

“And with some of the drought issues that we had, especially in central (and) northeastern South Dakota where we had production fields, there’s going to be a limited amount of some of the things that are grown in the Dakotas.”

He says that consists mostly of grains, while seed for other covers like radishes, turnips and clovers will be more plentiful.

Fruechte points to rising demand as another major factor.

“We’re at the brink or just the start of a huge usage of cover crops the next five years, so with that increased demand each year it becomes more important for farmers to get orders in sooner just to allocate inventory for them.”

He says demand for cover crop seed has increased dramatically the past three years and he expects further growth because of climate smart initiatives at the state and federal level.