Cover Crops

Learn how you can use cover crops to slow erosion, boost soil health, scavenge and hold nutrients, improve water quality, and control pests, weeds, and diseases. This section outlines the different types of cover crops as well as management tips for planting and terminating.
KWS Cereals rye
Soil protection system provides new cover crop option
Corn growing in cover crop
How to minimize cover crop risks
shovel with cover crops
Farmer saves $2 million in inputs with no-till system
Man and dog in field
The benefits of soil testing
Producer Ben Cramer kneels in a field of dried cover crops with a flock of sheep and a donkey behind him
Why graze cattle on cover crops?
A shovel full of dark soil.
Why should farmers care about carbon?
Shovel digging into a corn crop field
No-tilling in heavy soil
Soil after cover crop grazing
Carbon's impact on soil moisture and crop performance
John Deere and Cargill logos
Cargill RegenConnect now offered through John Deere Operations Center
A pair of hands dig into the ground, clearing away debris that lays on top of the soil
The National Cover Crop Survey is open for farmer insight
An Iowa farmer digs soil with his hand
Kansas farmer mitigates risk with carbon program
Prevo Family
Farm prepares for future by earning carbon credits
oat field and tractor
Add profit with extended rotation
mature cover crops
Cover crops under the microscope
clover
Are cover crops worth the cost?
soil in hands
Double your organic matter
Family of four in a pasture
What to do when soil health practices don’t work
Jay Brandt showing his cover crop
Cut costs without sacrificing yields
Seed mix
Cover crops boost organic matter
Mikayla Tabert standing in sunflowers
How no-till and cover crops work together in northern Minnesota
Portrait of Myron Sylling in front of his corn
Cover crops help soil profitability
Corn growing in cover crop
Reducing inputs and increasing yields through cover crops
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Living roots, low-input costs
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Relay cropping proves its worth
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Study shows positive economic returns from no-till and cover crops
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No-till and cover crops yield success in a northern setting
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Create a field of agronomic dreams with on-farm trials
green_covers
Peoples Company, Stine Seed expand paid-in-full cover crop program
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Avoid these agronomic 'sins' in the season ahead
Black cattle graze on green cover crop in Iowa
3 complementary strategies for raising crops and cattle
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From seed to soil, cover crops amplify the benefits to the farm
Green leaves of cover crops growing up between the withered grass and crops
Strategize cover crops like cash crops
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Prioritize soil health to restore profitability and open new doors
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How to keep nitrogen in the soil where it belongs
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No-till and cover crops build soil and restore moisture
Green leaves of cover crops growing up between the withered grass and crops
Seeder project to increase cover crop adoption and water quality benefits
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Adopting no-till and cover crops builds soil organic matter and shaves costs
An Indiana farmer plants corn directly into his cover crops
Cover crop lessons from four Midwest farmers
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No-till and cover crop systems cut costs and save soil
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Kernza, winter camelina, and pennycress —you may be farming these in the future
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Focus on whole-farm soil health
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Cover crops crusader
cerealrye
Growing Cereal Rye
Little-ranch
40 Seasons: How it pays to be an unconventional rancher
Cover Crop seed
SHI deciphers soil health economics
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Use the right tools on your farm to improve water quality
A close-up of cover crop roots.
New Pandemic Cover Crop Program helps farmers receive premium benefit
Planting into green cover crop
Productive planting weekend for many Iowa farmers
Man holds ears of corn between widely spaced corn rows
Stretch rows accommodate corn and cover crops
A field of cover crops
Cover crops can be a herbicide helper
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Cashing in on cover crops
Cover crop roots.
Level Up Your Cover Crops
Goats in radish field
Goats and tillage radishes
Turnips Cover Crop
FBN launches GRO Network to link farmers with sustainable buyers
Cover Crop seed
As cover crop acreage adds up, more benefits emerge
Red 4-wheeler with fencing supplies in front of a pasture of black cattle
Grazing cover crops 101
Cover Crop seed
Farmers finding benefits to cover crop adoption: Soil Health Partnership
suelflow-Reed
How to be a profitable hippie farmer
A cornfield with cover crops.
New Cover Crop Information Map centralizes research and farm trial data
Soil health practices help 2020 South Dakota fields hold up in wet conditions.
South Dakota soil health farmers reap 2020 benefits on 2019 prevent plant acres
A cornfield with cover crops.
Agronomy Tip: Manage Compaction and Weed Pressure
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Terminating cover crops
Soil-Health-Earthworm-USDA
Applications open for Soil Health and Habitat Program