Cover Crops
Cover
Crop Publications Columbia
Basin Cover Crops Choosing
a Cover Crop Costs
and Problems Benefits
of Cover Crops
How to Choose a Cover Crop (part 2)
- Identify your problem or use
- Identify the niche (the best time and place for a cover crop in your system)
- Describe the niche
- Describe the ideal cover crop
- Select the best available species
- Test a few options
3. Describe the Niche
Refer to your timeline chart and ask questions such as:
- How will I seed the cover?
- What's the weather likely to be then?
- what will soil temperature and moisture conditions be like?
- How vigorous will other crops (or pests) be?
- should the cover be low-growing and spreading, or tall and vigorous?
- What weather extremes and field traffic must it tolerate?
- will it winterkill in my area?
- Should it winterkill, to meet my goals?
- What kind of regrowth can I expect?
- How do I kill it and plant into it?
- Will I have the time to make this work?
- What's my contingency plan-and risks if the crop doesn't establish or doesn't die on schedule?
- Do I have the needed equipment and labor?
4. Describe the Ideal Cover Crop
Now, put together your intended used or need for the cover crop with the answers to the questions about the niche you have selected. What characteristics would the very best cover crop have for your particular situation?
5. Select the Best Available Species
You might be hoping at this point that you'll find "THE ANSWERS," the recommended cover crop for the above and many other situations. The fact is that there are too many possible combinations of crops, weather, soil, and management to ever hope to present recipes and specific answers to all cover crop questions. Besides, there are tons of options that haven't been tried. You, the grower, have to find what will work in your particular situation.
It's likely the "wonder crop" you want doesn't exist. One or more species could come close, as the above examples indicate. Top Cover Crop Species for the Columbia Basin can provide a starting point. Check with regional experts. Keep in mind that you can mix two or more species.
When you've narrowed your choices, consider testing cover crops on your farm.
6. Test a few options
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