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Foreword
Cover crops slow erosion, improve soil, smother weeds, enhance
nutrient and moisture availability, help control many pests and
bring a host of other benefits to your farm. At the same time, they
can reduce costs, increase profits and even create new sources of
income. You’ll reap dividends on your cover crop investments
for years, because their benefits accumulate over the long term.
Increasing energy costs will have a profound effect on farm economics
in coming years. As we go to press, it is impossible to predict
how fast energy costs will increase, but since cover crop economics
are rooted in nitrogen dynamics (how much N you save or produce
with cover crops), fuel costs (the cost of N and trips across the
field) and commodity prices, energy prices will certainly impact
the economics of cover crop use.
Economic comparisons in the 2nd edition were based on the old
economy of two-dollar corn, twenty-cent nitrogen and cheap gas.
Some studies showed that cover crops become more profitable as the
price of nitrogen increases. We retained some of these excellent
studies because data from new studies is not yet available. What
we do know is that cover crops can help you to increase yields,
save on nitrogen costs, reduce trips across the field and also reap
many additional agronomic benefits.
There is a cover crop to fit just about every farming situation.
The purpose of this book is to help you find which ones are right
for you.
Farmers around the country are increasingly looking at the long-term
contributions of cover crops to their whole farm system. Some of
the most successful are those who have seen the benefits and are
committed to making cover crops work for them. They are re-tooling
their cropping systems to better fit cover crop growth patterns,
rather than squeezing cover crops into their existing system, time
permitting.
This 3rd edition of Managing Cover Crops Profitably aims
to capture farmer and other research results from the past ten years.
We verified the information from the 2nd edition, added new results
and updated farmer profiles and research data throughout. We also
added two new chapters.
Brassicas and
Mustards lays out the current theory and management of cover
crops in the BRASSICACEAE family. Brassica cover crops are thought
to play a role in management of nematodes, weeds and disease by
releasing chemical compounds from decomposing residue. Results are
promising but inconsistent. Try brassicas on small plots and consult
local expertise for additional information.
Managing
Cover Crops in Conservation Tillage Systems addresses the management
complexities of reduced tillage systems. If you are already using
cover crops, the chapter will help you reduce tillage. If you are
already using conservation tillage, it shows you how to add or better
manage cover crops. Cover crops and conservation tillage team up
to reduce energy use on your farm and that means more profits.
We have tried to include enough information for you to select and
use cover crops appropriate to your operation. We recommend that
you define your reasons for growing a cover crop—the section,
Selecting the Best
Cover Crops for Your Farm can help with this—and take
as much care in selecting and managing cover crops as you would
a cash crop.
Regional and site-specific factors can complicate cover crop management.
No book can adequately address all the variables that make up a
crop production system. Before planting a cover crop, learn as much
as you can from this book and talk to others who are experienced
with that cover crop.
We hope that this updated and expanded edition of Managing Cover
Crops Profitably will lead to the successful use of cover crops
on a wider scale as we continue to increase the sustainability of
our farming systems.
Andy Clark, Coordinator
SARE Outreach
June 2007
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