Field Notes
Understanding Cover Crop Classifications, Seed Selection, and Mixes
This article is part of a series on cover crop species selection by ISAP’s Soil Health Specialist, Jim Isermann. The first article provided a general introduction to cover crops and highlighted important considerations for determining which cover crops will be the best addition to a cropping system and a specific farmer’s operation, and future articles will focus on individual cover...
Berseem Clover Provides Cover Benefits and Forage Opportunities
On February 8th, the Illinois Cover Crop On-Farm Network (ICCON) was joined by Dr. Kim Cassida, Extension Specialist for Forages and Cover Crops for Michigan State University to discuss Berseem clover. This was the final call in ICCON’s winter series focused on New and Emerging Cover Crops. Dr. Cassida shared her knowledge of Berseem clover based on her research trials...
Illinois Farmers Get Paid for Citizen Science Cover Crop Research
Cover crops are becoming increasingly popular as a key strategy for improving soil health, water quality, and climate resilience across a wide variety of farming systems. Many cover crop benefits depend on successful cover crop growth, or biomass. However, cover crop biomass can vary widely across farms because plant growth is influenced by multiple factors like climate, soil, and management...
ISAP Soil Health Specialist Offers Advice on Cover Crop Species Selection
Let’s look at cover crop species selection: Even though we commonly hear about farmers being encouraged to plant “cover crops”, cover crops are not one single species or crop. Anyone following the conservation movement has heard of at least a few of the different options available: Cereal rye, Tillage Radishes, Crimson Clover, and perhaps you remember someone in your family...