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Southwest Iowa farmer looks for value in cover crops

Kevin Ross is a sixth-generation family farmer who grows corn, soybeans, alfalfa and runs an 80-head cow/calf operation in southwest Iowa.  Ross is dedicated to conservation, growing corn almost exclusively using no-till methods.  His commitment to conservation led to planting cover crops “to display the data that we think can be achieved and the results that can be achieved through cover crops,” he told Brownfield Ag News at Commodity Classic in New Orleans.

The results he’s looking for include value beyond farming sustainably.  “That’s what the program’s designed to do is to show that there’s actual profitability within cover crops.”

For now, Ross is exploring the practice and willing to discover what will work best as part of the Soil Health Partnership.  “We may figure out that some systems just don’t achieve the results that we’re hoping for,” said Ross.  “Other systems might do very, very well.”

AUDIO: Kevin Ross (8 min. MP3)