July 2023 issue of the Farmworx Magazine

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e m H s James Hepp hosted a “Profitability with Cover Crops” program in June near Rockwell City. Making Cover crops pay: 5practical tips By Darcy Dougherty Maulsby There’s a lot of “feel good” talk today about the role of cover crops in row-crop agriculture. Science shows they offer many benefits, from increasing soil organic matter to reducing soil compaction, erosion and nutrient runoff. While cover crops are a long-term investment in improved soil health, do they really pay? Approximately 70 people gathered at Hepp Farms near Rockwell City to find answers during a “Profitability with Cover Crops” pogram on June 9. “I think the focus on return on investment (ROI) is a big reason why so many people attended,” said Hepp, 33, a first-generation farmer from Rockwell City, who grows 1,400 acres of corn, soybeans and cereal rye with his family. “With cover crops, I’ve learned there’s no $100 silver bullet for success. It takes ten $10 solutions to make the system work.” Cover crops are different from cash crops like corn and soybeans, which farmers sell for profit. Cover crops’ primary job is to improve the soil. They are seeded into fields to provide a “living mulch” between growing seasons to protect the soil from erosion and nutrient loss. Cover crops can also help smother weeds, manage pests and diseases, and increase biodiversity on the farm. Depending on the type of cover crop seeded, the plants either winter kill, or they are terminated before the next cash crop starts growing in the spring. Making cover crops work means investing extra time and attention to detail, but it’s paying off for Hepp, who offers his top 5 tips for success: 1. Start small. Hepp began with 80 acres of rye cover crop in 2020. He was inspired by Keith Sexton, who has a crop-share arrangement with Hepp and had dabbled in cover crops. “Planting into rye is scary, and you’ve got to go on faith,” said Hepp, whose rye was hip-high when he planted non-GMO soybeans into his first cover crop. “I couldn’t see anything behind the planter, but everything worked fine.” There was also no yield drag at harvest. This encouraged Hepp to expand his cover crop acres to 120 acres in 2021. He now manages 460 acres of cover crops. “If you’re new to cover crops, start with some acres that will be plant- L S c c t i n b s a h a d a a g s w 2 3 a L g a t g s o 1 p w t Page 4 July 2023
July 2023 First-generation farmer James Hepp ed to soybeans the next spring. It’s more difficult to screw that up,” said Hepp, whose goal is to have all of his soybean acres in cover crops. 2. Try different seeding options. Late summer (mid-August to early September) is an ideal time to seed cover crops. “When we’ve seeded cover crops into standing corn at that time, I’ve had 3-inch-tall rye going into harvest,” Hepp said. “Running the combine over that is nice, because it’s like driving on turf.” To seed his cover crops, Hepp has used aerial seeding from an airplane to hiring a local farmer with vertical tillage equipment. Hepp is looking into drone technology for seeding clover and other cover crops. He also has an air seeder he can put on his Hagie high-clearance applicator and is studying the best way to make this work. 3. Test your results. In late May 2023, Hepp clipped a 3-foot by 3-foot sample of his rye cover crop and sent the sample to Regen Ag Lab in Pleasanton, Nebraska. (Regen Ag Lab provides accurate, reliable testing services surrounding the principles of soil health and regenerative agriculture.) The results shocked Hepp. “Along with 2.2 tons of dry matter, the sample showed 110 pounds of potassium and 22 pounds of phosphorus,” said Hepp, who noted that’s enough potassium to produce 85-bushel-per-acre soybeans. “This wasn’t even my best rye cover crop, but the tests showed the rye has scavenged a lot of nutrients.” While many of Iowa’s rich soils contain abundant nutrients, the chemistry and composition of certain soils can make it tough for plants to absorb these nutrients. Beneficial soil microbes linked with cover crops can help “unlock” this natural fertilizer. “These nutrients are in an organic form that’s like a slow-release fertilizer that feeds the crops,” Hepp said. In some cases, this can help lower the fertilizer bill, or it allows farmers to reallocate fertilizer resources for more timely, strategic applications. “I’ve cut back on dry fertilizer applications and am using more liquid, foliar feeding during the growing season,” Hepp said. “This allows me to ‘spoon feed’ my crop the nutrients it needs, when it needs them.” Cover crops also help suppress weeds, which can help reduce herbicide applications. “I try to do only one post-emerge herbicide pass, if I can,” Hepp said. “Also, with cover crops in soybeans, I’m able to skip a residual herbicide pass and get better weed suppression, which normally pays for the cost of the cover crop.” Roughly 70 people gathered at Hepp Farms near Rockwell City to learn about making cover crops pay. 4. Set goals. Hepp can’t forget all the “snirt” (dirty snow) that covered the Iowa landscape following a blizzard right before Christmas 2022. “Seeing all that black soil in the ditches broke my heart. It also reminded me why building soil health and holding that valuable soil in place is my top goal with cover crops.” Hepp’s second goal is to increase efficiency and save time. He has reduced tillage, thanks to strip tillage and no-till, and he’s finding ways to make cover crops work with this system. Hepp’s third goal for his cover crops revolves around ROI. He plans to seed more diverse species of cover crops, since each one supports certain microbes that provide specific soil health benefits. “Clovers help the microbes that play a role with nitrogen fixation,” Hepp said. “This potentially helps you lower your nitrogen fertilizer bill.” Hepp is also interested in developing an additional income stream through custom cover- crop seeding and raising rye for cover crop seed. 5. Make cover crops part of your farm management plan. Now that he has experience seeding cover crops on corn acres that will be planted to soybeans, he’s experimenting with the best ways to use cover crops on soybean acres that will be planted to corn next spring. “If you’re serious about cover crops, you need to make them part of your farm management to-do list,” Hepp said. Hepp encourages other farmers to take advantage of cover crop costshare opportunities through Practical Farmers of Iowa and other organizations. Also, seek out other farmers with cover-crop experience, and find online resources like XtremeAg’s Cutting the Curve podcast, he advised. “I’ve cut my learning curve this way, and I want to help others learn. If you want cover crops on your acres and are willing to put some effort into this, cover crops will work for you.” Page 5
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July 2023 issue of the Farmworx Magazine

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