Incorporating Cover Crops

In a short growing season like North Dakota's, effectively using cover crops can seem like a challenge. However, farmers are interested in including cover crops to meet specific on-farm goals such as minimizing soil erosion, moisture management, weed suppression and improving soil conditions that they are unable to achieve by only having their cash crops in rotation. Establishing a specific on-farm goal is key to utilizing cover crops successfully. What is important is that those benefits and goals are different for every farm, really every field. Getting familiar with and then fine-tuning approaches is important to achieve desired outcomes. In this publication, NDSU soil health researchers, Abbey Wick and Caley Gasch, provide a starting point.