Eastern Iowa Farmer Spring 2017

managing your soil
eastern iowa farmer photo / brooke taylor
Developing
Deep Roots
with cover crops
Cover crops have the potential to increase
soil organic matter and the biodiversity
of organisms in the soil. This increase
is greater where less tillage is used to
establish the cover crop and more growth
is allowed prior to spring termination.
The healthy biodiversity can include larger
populations of such beneficial organisms
as earthworms and mycorhizae,
which greatly improve nutrient cycling,
aeration and soil structure.
Source : USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
about five years ago, he considered which
types of cover crops would work best for
his needs. He plants them in late August or
early September, either by aerial seeding or
by drilling.
For Gerlach and other farmers doing
cover crop grazing, it’s optimal to get the
cover crop planted early enough for livestock
to get some grazing days in October
and November. Livestock can also graze
cover crops in April and early May. A few
years ago, the USDA added flexibility to
its cover crop termination guidelines, no
longer requiring termination by a stringent
deadline. Now, cover crop termination must
be completed at or before planting the crop.
Gerlach said his operation is always a
work in progress, and he carefully monitors
what techniques and combinations yield
the results he needs. He’s willing to make
changes.
For example, last fall he closely watched
a field he aerial seeded to see whether he
got better growth. If he needs a stand of
cover crops started more quickly, he will
chop the corn and drill the seed.
“It all depends on what you need for
your operation,” he said. “I like experimenting
with things.”
Several years ago, before he began the
widespread use of cover crops, he was
inadvertently able to compare the results
of using them vs. not using them in one
of his fields. On part of the ground, he
had chopped the corn and drilled no-till
radishes, turnips and rye in the fall. He left
another section of the field bare.
“That’s where we figured out that it did
something to the ground,” he said. “The
next spring, we planted no-till corn over
the whole area. We couldn’t figure out why
it came up uneven. Then we figured out it
was the cover crop.”
It was easy to see. The corn planted
where there were no cover crops came up
uneven. That stand of corn planted where
cover crops were used had better growth
and stayed greener longer. Gerlach thinks
that is because of the cover crops leading to
a better root system. He also noted a telltale
sign that many farmers overlook: dew
worm holes in the soil.
“I have a lot more dew worm holes
now,” he said. n
— Nancy mayfield,
eastern iowa farmer
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70 Eastern Iowa Farmer | spring 2017