By Adam Hayes, Soil Management Specialist – Field Crops & Anne Verhallen, Soil Management Specialist – Horticulture Crops
What is the best cover crop species to use following wheat and other crops harvested in late summer? Cover crops can help improve soil structure, protect the soil from erosion, cycle nutrients, provide feed for livestock and much more. Cover crops are not a magic solution for your soil problems, but when combined with other good soil management practices they can help improve soil health.
Red clover is still the best cover crop option in winter wheat as it provides a nitrogen credit to the following crop and produces significant top and root growth. If red clover is not an option or did not establish, then planting cover crops following a cereal crop is the next option. Many think that volunteer cereal growth is good enough, but a planted cover crop can provide up to five times the above ground biomass and root growth. It can also suppress weed growth, which volunteer cereal growth cannot do.
Cover Crop Selection
The cover crop chosen for a field will depend on why you want to grow the cover crop. You will also need to consider how it will fit into your cropping and tillage system and how much time there will be for the cover crop to grow. The OMAF and MRA website
http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/crops/pub811/8building.htm#cover
(in the soil management section) provides comprehensive information on cover crop species selection and management. The “Agronomy Guide for Field Crops”, OMAF and MRA Publication 811 also has cover crop information. The Midwest Cover Crop website
http://www.mccc.msu.edu/selectorINTRO.html
provides an Ontario cover crop selection tool.
When to Plant
Following cereals, or any other crop, plant the cover crop as soon as possible to achieve the most growth. Another great opportunity to plant cover crops is following corn silage harvest, as there is little cover left to protect the soil. Annual cover crops can be planted up until six weeks before a killing frost is expected. After that point a winter cereal is the best option.
How to Plant
If volunteer cereal growth is present, consider whether or not to spray it to prevent it from competing with the cover crop. Ensuring that the straw was spread well at harvest will improve cover crop establishment. A drill, planter or air-seeder can be used. Cover crops can be no-tilled, or tilled and then planted. Placing the seed in the ground will provide the best opportunity for quick establishment. Seed can also be flown on, broadcast or broadcast and worked in, or applied with a liquid manure application.
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