Cover crop establishment options for a short growing season

Integrated Agriculture
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5 Video Views·Aug 8, 2026
Options for establishing cover crops for short-duration cropping cycles include sowing the cover crop either before or simultaneously with the main crop, utilizing fast-growing varieties at appropriate densities that are easy to terminate. Legumes, grasses, or mixtures may be selected depending on soil conditions, climate, and soil conservation objectives.
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Video Summary
AI GeneratedThis discussion focuses on the importance of prioritizing cover crop establishment following corn and soybean harvests. The speaker emphasizes that while harvest is the primary focus, integrating cover crops is essential for setting up the success of the following year's crop.
So when it comes to getting cover crops established after corn and soybeans,
like we, you know, a lot of people think, well, we just don't have time here
where we're at, so obviously like you've made it a priority to get this in.
We got a beautiful stand of cover crops here.
It's pretty green in the corn.
Like, what would you say to that?
To people that say, well, we just, we don't have time or how do you make it work?
Uh, making it a priority is one thing.
Uh, hiring it done is another way to get it done.
So, I mean, I do it for hire, but, but even, uh, other people, you know,
there's, there's friends that got drills, there's ways to get it done.
You just need to find those people and, and make it a priority.
It's usually an afterthought because priority one is harvest, right?
And so we're, we're always focused on harvest that we forget about
setting ourselves up for the next year.
And that's essentially what you're doing at harvest is
setting yourself up for next year.
So, you know, I, I by no means want to stop the combine to go seed, but if I
can find some guy, kid to sit in the seat of the equipment and get the seat on,
it's better than not getting it on.
And you prefer to get it in the ground?
After harvest.
Yeah.
I, if it's after harvest, some type of incorporation.
Uh, I got a really good example of that on another farm right now where I
broadcasted on top of soybean residue and we were digging the farm because of
some tile lines and got partway across and stopped cause we got rained out.
And now this spring, uh, I haven't walked out in it, but from the road, you can see
that it's much greener and bigger where we did that light incorporation.
Uh, we still got a good stand on the other part of it, but it's just that much further
behind because it now had to seal itself in the soil and start, start from the top.
Um, but just getting something is better than nothing.
Um, I, I would like it if it could look this way all the time and it probably
could, if you do some type of drilling or incorporation after harvest, especially
in the bean stubble, corn stalks get a little harder because your fall, you know,
your fall window for growth and germination is so much shorter.
Uh, but, but beans, if you really want it to look like your front lawn, an
after harvest type of incorporation is probably the best for guaranteeing the best
stand. Uh, I've, I've also interseeded beans, um, in that Labor Day timeframe.
And depending on the weather after that, sometimes that's when you see the more
patchy stands in the field here.
