Cover crop

[Benhameen]

Anyone else in here plant a cover crop over the winter?

I have very pour soil (clay) and I'm looking to improve it anyway I can. I'm going to do a half acre plot this year and see how it goes.

I suppose I should do test on the soil to see exactly what i need but I'm thinking about a hairy vetch and winter wheat mixture.

Any advise would be appreciated....

 

[skeets]

Around here we have a lot of yellow type clay and the ground is poor as its on the acid side, I had my soil sampled and it came back grand on everything but the Ph,,, Penn State said I need 9000 pounds of lime an acre ,,,shivvvver you seen the lime prices??
Anyway I just do a winter wheat or winter rye, or what ever I had left over from the year before all mixed up,,the turkeys love the shoots and the deer are in it all winter,, cheap and works back in easy in the spring Im sure others have a lot of other ideas, maybe talk to your county agent or the local farm burro

 

[Benhameen]

Thanks for the reply, skeets.

A few years back I grew winter wheat, pre kubota days, and plowed it in as green manure. I planted sunflowers on top of it and it was the best sunflower crop I've ever grown. Kinda the reason I want to plant something this winter to see how it turns out.

I'm only planting around a half acre, with the Kubota and the equipment I have now, I can get it done a whole lot faster. With the old jD and equipment I had at the time it used to take a better part of a day.

 

[DanDan]

...maybe talk to your county agent or the local farm burro

You guys have talking burros?!?
Man, the ones around here are worthless.

HeeHaw!

 

[WFM]

I know several who plant 'winter rye' in the fall and plow it under in the spring to build the soil.

 

[skeets]

DANG IT DanDan I was hopping nobody caught that

 

[Kingcreek]

Winter rye is cheap, buckwheat is good if you want to spend a little more.
I went on a blind date once with a hairy vetch. Didn't go so well.

 

[skeets]

A friend of mine and my self planted BUCK WHEAT once upon a time as ahhhhh gathering place for the local deer herd,, Anyway after the winter came spring and it was years before he ever got it killed off in his yard,, just a thought

 

[Kubota Newbie]

It's getting a little late for anything but cereal rye or winter wheat. Otherwise it depends on your objectives. Make some nitrogen? Vetch, Flat Pea, Crimson Clover or some other inexpensive legume. Control erosion? Cereal Rye, Annual Rye Grass, Wheat or Oats. Loosen the soil? Tillage radishes. Add organic matter? Any of the above
Timing can be important because it can take a while for some of these to develop before it frosts hard. On small areas, many of these can be broadcast before the crop is taken off and give you a head start on growth before the freeze. If you have to wait 'till about now to seed the cover, then Cereal rye is about the only recommended option if you're in the middle to northern part of the mid-west.
If the govt weren't shut down right now you could go to USDA-NRCS's web site and get the recommended rates, types and seeding dates for your area. If you were in Ohio, I'd say call your local Soil and Water Conservation District (Me ) and get the information there (we're not shut-down). I'm not sure about the status of Conservation Districts in your state with the partial USDA shutdown.

 

[Benhameen]

It's getting a little late for anything but cereal rye or winter wheat. Otherwise it depends on your objectives. Make some nitrogen? Vetch, Flat Pea, Crimson Clover or some other inexpensive legume. Control erosion? Cereal Rye, Annual Rye Grass, Wheat or Oats. Loosen the soil? Tillage radishes. Add organic matter? Any of the above
Timing can be important because it can take a while for some of these to develop before it frosts hard. On small areas, many of these can be broadcast before the crop is taken off and give you a head start on growth before the freeze. If you have to wait 'till about now to seed the cover, then Cereal rye is about the only recommended option if you're in the middle to northern part of the mid-west.
If the govt weren't shut down right now you could go to USDA-NRCS's web site and get the recommended rates, types and seeding dates for your area. If you were in Ohio, I'd say call your local Soil and Water Conservation District (Me ) and get the information there (we're not shut-down). I'm not sure about the status of Conservation Districts in your state with the partial USDA shutdown.

Newb, thanks for the reply. Those are all things I need to consider. For now, I'll probably go with winter wheat, I've had luck with it on the past. I'm pretty far south in Illinois , 70 miles from Kentucky, so I should be good planting this late in the year. The farmers are just now harvesting the spring crop, so none of them have planted winter wheat yet, I should be good. Thanks again...

 

[Benhameen]

Replaced the roof on my house last week and thought it would be a good time to get a picture of the cover crop I planted last fall.

Right hand side is the wheat, bottom left is red clover I planted a couple years ago and if you look close enough between the power lines and the woods you'll see a deer food plot that's mostly white clover.

oh and the strip below the power line that's tilled, that is sunflowers I planted a few weeks ago. Actually I have 4 different sunflower plots about the same size as that one.