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Cover Crop Topic Room: Selection and Management

Managing Cover Crops Profitably, 3rd Edition

Type: Book

Managing Cover Crops Profitably explores how and why cover crops work and provides all the information...

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Crop Rotation on Organic Farms

Type: Book

Crop Rotation on Organic Farms: A Planning Manual provides an in-depth review of crop rotation,...

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SARE Cover Crops Webinars

Type: North Central SARE Presentation

As part of the Missouri SARE State Program, Debi Kelly hosted two webinars on Cover Crops in fall 2012....

An uprooted radish plant on the ground, showing root and leaves

Dryland Cover Cropping Boosts Yields

Type: North Central SARE From the Field Profile

Nebraska farmers Keith and Brian Berns found they could use cover crops in dryland farming to increase...

Cover Crops for All Seasons

Type: Southern SARE Grantee-Produced Info Product

This Virginia Association for Biological Farming information sheet provides research-based information...

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Nitrogen Management with Cover Crop Mixtures

Type: Northeast SARE Multimedia

Charlie White, of Penn State Extension, presents case studies of how mixtures of different cover crop...

Also, visit SARE's database for reports on these research projects:

Cover Crop Selection and Use in Organic No-Till Farming (2010, North Dakota)
A Novel Approach for Optimizing the Benefits of Cereal-Legume Cover Crop Mixtures in Vegetable Cropping Systems (2009, Michigan)
Selecting Cover Crops for Diverse Functions: An Integrated Soil Management Approach for Organic Strawberry Production in North Carolina (2007, North Carolina)
Development of Winter Cover Crop Varieties and Complementary Mixtures for North Central Region Grain Systems (2006, Michigan)
Evaluating Winter Cover Crops for the Environment and for Profit [on dairy farms] (2005, Ohio)
Multipurpose Brassica Cover Crops for Sustaining Northeast Farmers (2003, Maryland)

Dig deeper into cover crops research: SARE has funded hundreds of research and education projects related to cover crops since 1988. This topic room features only a glimpse into SARE's entire portfolio of cover crop research. To discover more, visit SARE's database of projects and conduct full text or advanced keyword searches.

Online Cover Crop Decision Tools

The Midwest Cover Crops Council's Cover Crop Decision Tools are interactive, web-based systems to assist Midwestern farmers in selecting cover crops to include in field crop and vegetable rotations.

Farmers Say Cover Crops Work

During the fall of 2012, corn yields increased 9.6% when planted after a cover crop, compared to side-by-side fields with no cover crops, and soybean yields improved 11.6% following cover crops. Because of this, and witnessed improvements to soil and water quality, farmers across the Midwest are rapidly expanding their cover crop acreage.

Learn more about farmers' experiences with cover crops in the 2012-2013 Cover Crop Survey. Read a summary or download the full report.

Other Cover Crops Resources

The following organizations offer excellent cover crops resources:

The Midwest Cover Crops Council has extensive information on cover crops for Midwestern farmers, including species descriptions, selector tools, innovator profiles, Extension material and more.

The eOrganic Community of Practice maintains a collection of articles, videos and webinars on organic research, production and certification. This collection includes a section on cover cropping in organic farming systems.

"Unlock the Secrets in the Soil" is a national initiative by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service to promote soil's importance as a natural resource and its vital role in agriculture.