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Northeast Missouri | This is my first year with cover crops. I drilled rye in two fields on October 25. The stand looked thin until sometime in April. Anhydrous was custom applied in the fall with a low disturbance rig after the rye was planted. Several in my area are getting our feet wet on covers.
I've been learning which is always good. I drilled about 38 lbs. of rye and learned that was gobs given the applied nitrogen. I think 30 or even 25 would have been enough given the tillering. The corn was planted in May due to a weather delay. It was planted green just as the rye was heading. There was not a time to spray it before then. Other than not always being able to see where I had been at times I liked the environment for the seed. I also learned one thing from my chemical dealer (who also farms) and that is spray timing for burndown. He suggested waiting until the corn germinated but before it was up. This proved to be correct. He said the allelopathic properties of the rye seemed to be worse if the rye was dying before the corn germinated. I have noticed practically no effect on the corn doing it this way either in stand or vigor. Here is a picture just taken this morning. Other than cosmetic I'm liking what I'm seeing so far. These fields are rolling and erosion was practically eliminated. Sure, it cost some money but the benefits are many. I plan on making this a regular practice.
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Learning about cover crops
