Because there are multiple cover crops to choose from, many different methods of management, and several different ways to terminate cover crops, planting cover crops requires a lot of forward planning.

Is your soil at particular risk of erosion? Are your fields plagued by constant run-off or compaction? Do you need a boost in your nitrogen, root systems, or overall nutrients? Different cover crops are more effective at providing different benefits, so you must plan ahead.

Planning ahead is also important because your cash crop yields will not increase if your management and termination are not premeditated and thoroughly calculated beforehand. Timing is everything when it comes to maximizing your opportunities.

Using the form below, contact ProHarvest for help planning your cover crop. We will help you reap the benefits that your soil needs!

ProHarvest Seeds is your source for cutting edge cover crop needs.

As growers, we know that we cannot control weather or prices. However, we can be proactive with a cover crop plan. Over time, a well-developed strategy can erase the stubborn yield limitations of our land. In combination with new seed genetics and technology innovations, cover crop usage will begin to break through that yield barrier.

Contact a Seed Specialist Printable Cover Crops Guide Find Local Dealers

ProHarvest Seeds Forage and Cover Crop Guide

We've produced a comprehensive guide specifically for Forage and Cover Crops. Along with a team of Seed Specialists and Dealers across the Midwest, ProHarvest Seeds can help you find the right solution for your land. Feel free to download our current Forage and Cover Crop Guide from our products guide page.

reCLAIM Radishes

reSTORE Winter Rye

Blends

Quick Clover Blend Radishes, Oats

Bonus Blend Radishes, Rapeseed, Winter Rye, Winter Barley

Secure Blend Radishes, Annual Ryegrass

Land & Livestock Winter Rye, Radish

N-Fix Blend Radishes, Crimson Clover, Fixation Balsana

AwakeN Blend 8-way Blend, Grasses, Legumes, Brassica's

Cover Crop Tips

Potential Benefits from Planting Cover Crops

Using Cover Crop Mixes to Accomplish Goals and Minimize Risk

Successfully managing and terminating cover crops

How to manage planting into green cover crops

A successful cover crop program requires planning

It is being proven that planting primary crops directly into the cover crop instead of terminating the cover crop weeks beforehand can add to the overall health of your soil. This new strategy is known as “planting green”.

Planting green has several benefits, including increasing organic matter in the soil and increasing the time that the soil is protected from erosion. By harvesting more solar energy, the amount of carbon (organic matter) in the soil will increase. Planting into green cover crops also gives your soil a better chance to fix more nitrogen, and for extra soil moisture to be soaked up by the roots of the cover crop. This means that during wet springs, the soil dries up quicker and cash crops can more quickly be planted.

Overall, planting into green cover crops establishes the primary crop into moist, healthy soil. It also gives farmers a chance to better manage the cover crop residue. Planting equipment can move through a succulent living cover crop more easily than it can in decaying brittle residue.

To learn more about planting into green cover crops, contact ProHarvest using the form below!

It is no surprise that the year-in, year-out production of high yielding crops can be compromising to a soil’s health. What have we found to be the best solution to degrading soil health? No doubt — cover crops.

Cover crops are naturally inclined to delay erosion, promote mineralization, suppress weeds, and better control diseases — among other plentiful benefits. By planting cover crops such as radishes, annual ryegrass, winter rye, certain legumes, or a high performance blend, your soil will benefit from the improved soil health. This benefit inevitably has to result in increased yields.

The benefits of stimulating your soils through the implementation of cover crops outweigh the disadvantages of cost or inconvenience. One of the many ways cover crops improve soil health is by minimizing erosion. Cover crops delay erosion by mitigating compaction, reducing rain runoff, and increasing water infiltration. Keeping more topsoil and increasing soil organic matter aids in the soil’s ability to mineralize more nutrients and to keep more nitrogen in the soil for the next cash crop.

Are you interested in learning more about cover crops or finding out which cover crops will best improve soil health on your land? Contact ProHarvest Seeds below today!

Residual Herbicides and Cover Crop Establishment

By Sean Jordal

For all the benefits corn and soybean growers are seeing associated with Cover Crop applications, the number of acres being planted to Cover Crops continues to rise.

At the same time, with more persistent weeds showing tolerance to glyphosate herbicide programs in recent years, another rising trend involves growers adding tank mix partners and other modes of action that provide some residual weed control for their Cash Crops.

When these two trends converge, it can be problematic, leaving growers wondering about the effect that any related herbicide residue might have on Cover Crop establishment.

Herbicide Restrictions Require More Careful Consideration

In general, most herbicide labels usually include information regarding the restrictions for rotation of crops. However, many of these restrictions do not include Cover Crops. Or, if they do include Cover Crops, they’re probably staged at the very safest time period available—because, when those labels were written, Cover Crops were not overly prevalent in the market.

Expert recommendations call for looking at the most current tolerance information, and the plant backed restrictions, to get a good Cover Crop stand establishment.

Cover Crops planted for conservation practices allow for greater flexibility, depending on the mix formula and the risk of herbicide interaction. But those planted heavily, as part of a row crop situation, might be limited to that information as well.

Start Planning Months Ahead

When it’s clear that a residual herbicide program might impose on a Cover Crop program, the time to develop a plan is in the fall, the preceding year, versus the summer of the year in which the programs will be implemented. This is essential to making certain an herbicide application will provide good weed management to maximize Cash-Crop yield potential, without detracting from the benefits of a Cover Cropping system.

For more information, growers can do an Internet search using the keyword phrase: Herbicide Rotation Restrictions in Forage and Cover Cropping Systems.

This report, published by the University of Wisconsin, reviews different Cover Crop species against various herbicide programs and their active ingredients, identifying the best choices growers can make to maximize success in terms of both their Cover Crop establishment and preservation of a weed-free environment for their row crop.

The benefits of using cover crops are unmistakable; reversing erosion, reducing soil compaction, increasing organic matter, and an overall increase in cash crop yields are just some of the advantages of planting cover crops.

It is important to plant, manage, and terminate cover crops based on your goals. For example, cereal grains like rye and barley are incredible nitrogen sequesters while also being especially good for erosion prevention. Add in cover crop radishes and that makes a blend that is hard to beat. Manage and terminate your cover crops depending on the needs of your soil.

The timing and method of planting cover crops like radishes, annual ryegrass, winter rye, legumes, or a high performance blend are important. Most often, cover crops are established just prior to or right after the cash crop is harvested. Planting methods include drilling, aerial seeding, and broadcasting — among others.

Usually, cover crops are terminated before cash crop production. Termination options include tilling, herbicides, or roller-crimping. Termination should also be based on your soil goals. Is your soil most often plagued by compaction or run-off? Is your agronomic battle constantly against weeds? If you need nitrogen, then you need to kill the cover crop in its vegetative state to get the most nitrogen out of it.

Would you like help determining which cover crops and which management techniques your soil needs? Or are you interested in learning more about the timing of cover crop termination? Contact ProHarvest by filling out the form below!

If your agronomic goals for the year have to do with improving soil health, some of the items on your to-do list might include: increasing nutrients, sequestering nitrogen, reversing the effects of erosion, improving water infiltration, and controlling weeds. Is your land thirsty for these changes? We know just how to reach these soil health goals: with cover crop mixes.

By planting cover crops or a mix of them typically outside of the regular growing season, your fields will reap the reward of healthy soil ready to nurture healthy roots. Cover crop mixes provide for biodiversity in the soil profile, helping to awaken the soil and stimulate soil biology later into the fall and earlier in the spring.

Not only do cover crop mixes increase soil health by sequestering necessary nutrients; they also minimize risks that could have an adverse effect on your primary crops. For example, without cover crops, your fields are more at risk of erosion, soil compaction, and run-off. Don’t risk these damaging agents; instead, learn more about cover crops and take advantage of their benefits.

Are you ready to learn more about the cover crops and mixes that ProHarvest has available? Contact us below — today! We will work with you to develop the best cover crop plan for your land.