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Spring management following winter cover crops

As subsidy programs incentivize more farmers to implement winter cover crops, a field agronomist says there are some additional management items to consider ahead of corn and soybean planting in the spring.

Chris Brown with Burrus Seed, covering east central Illinois up into Wisconsin, tells Brownfield timing is key when terminating a cover crop.

“For instance, in a rye cover crop situation, if you can get that terminated with a herbicide in that 3-4” up to 6” time frame, by the time you are ready to plant most of that rye is going to be dead or dying and easy to pass through.”

He says if farmers decide to plant into the growing cover crop, they need to monitor crop nutrition. He uses grasses, like rye, ahead of corn as an example.

“You may have some nitrogen that the cover crop is taking away from your crop. As that plant is dying, if you terminated it less than two weeks before planting, it may cause some chemical responses which could harm the seedlings in that corn crop.” 

On the other hand, Brown says broadleaf and legume type cover crops like clover fix their own nitrogen and may add nitrogen to the soil for the following crop.

And he says additional pests are something else to keep in mind.  

“Those armyworm and cutworm moths see that green food source and lay their eggs in the cover crop and late on once that food source starts to die, you might get some added feeding on your corn crop.”               

He says the benefits of cover crop usually out way these factors when managed properly.